Workplace safety regulators are seeking $143,500 in fines against U.S. Steel Corp., charging the company with “willful” safety violations related to an explosion at a Pennsylvania coke plant that injured 20 workers.
“U.S. Steel and [subcontractor] Power Piping did not have the proper controls in place to prevent worker exposure to hazardous energy,” an official with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a news release. “These violations must be abated immediately to prevent future incidents.”
According to OSHA, the July 14 explosion at the Clairton Works plant in Clairton, Pa., occurred after workers performing maintenance broke open a line containing coke oven gas, which is flammable. The blast was so powerful, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports, that it bent steel beams and blew out block walls.
OSHA said U.S. Steel committed two willful violations of safety rules, meaning it either disregarded requirements of the law or was indifferent to employee safety and health. Some of the injured workers suffered burns to their hands, face and arms.
Power Piping, which provides steam fitting services at the Clairton coke batteries, faces possible fines of $31,500 for six serious violations. The two companies have 15 business days to pay the fines, seek an informal conference with OSHA or contest the penalties.
The Tribune-Review reported that U.S. Steel, in a statement, said that “work has begun in our facilities to identify opportunities for improvement in light of the incident last July.”
