OSHA Levies Fines in Mississippi Casino Constrcution Deaths
The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued proposed fines of $85,575 against three companies in the March deaths of two construction workers during the demolition of hurricane-damaged Grand Casino in Gulfport, Mississippi. The two construction workers, who drowned after passing out from hazardous fumes, were pumping water out of a portion of the casino that collapsed during Hurricane Katrina when the accident occurred. It is believed that the two men, working in water about 6 feet deep, became trapped in a tight space.
The men, employed by Dominion Marine Group LTD of Norfolk, Virginia, were part of a marine team working with PRC Environmental, a Houston company that dismantled the barge. Clyde Payne, director of OSHA's Jackson area office, stated:
OSHA proposed fines of $69,600 for Dominion Marine for allowing the workers into an area known to contain hydrogen sulfide gas without testing for safe levels of the chemical. The company also was cited for failing to test the area for flammable gas, failing to properly secure compressed gas cylinders, and using damaged welding-gas pressure regulators. PRC Environmental was cited for similar violations with a proposed fine of $15,675 and a fine of $300 was proposed for Advanced Demolition. When Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, part of the Gulfport Grand was ripped off its moorings in the Mississippi Sound and was heaved onto coastal U.S. Highway 90.
