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Ohio cites Struthers over fatal explosion
By jeanne starmack
struthers
The city has been cited over an explosion that resulted in the deaths of two workers at its waste- treatment plant.
The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation issued 10 citations after the March 1 explosion.
Ken Stiver, the plant’s lead maintenance man, and Gary Wilson, an assistant maintenance man, were working on wiring in the plant’s gas-compression room when a spark ignited methane gas. The resulting blast burned the men over 95 percent of their bodies. The men spent weeks in the burn unit of a Pittsburgh hospital. Wilson died there March 29. Stiver died there April 16.
Mayor Terry Stocker said the city received the violation notice Wednesday.
The notice states that the city:
Exposed the workers to hazards of fire and explosion from the ignition of methane gas. The state recommends conducting a fire- and explosion-risk evaluation of wastewater treatment and collection operations to identify where gas is accumulating.
The workers were not given enough space to work away from grounded and ungrounded pipes and other equipment.
The workers didn’t have training on electrical hazards.
The workers didn’t de-energize gas compressor control-circuit parts before working on them.
The workers didn’t lock or tag the circuits that energize the current- carrying parts.
The city didn’t establish and provide access to written electrical energy-control procedures for maintenance workers.
The workers used instruments that were not approved for use in the location where they were working.
The workers weren’t wearing proper protective equipment.
The workers were not required to use insulated tools or equipment in case of contact with current- carrying parts.
Electrical switches, circuits and other equipment were not marked to warn workers of potential hazards.
The first two and 10th violations have to be corrected by Feb. 1 next year. The other violations have to be corrected by Nov. 1 this year. If they are not corrected, the BWC can take the city to court to force it to correct them. The court could impose a penalty of not more than $500 per violation, not to exceed $10,000 per violation, the BWC notice indicates.
The city has 14 days to contest the violations. Stocker said it’s possible the city would contest some of them.
“We’ve got the citations, and we’ve got them under advisement,” he said.
He said administrators plan to meet with the BWC.
“We’ll have our say and we’ll do whatever we can to work on making it safer for our employees,” he said.