PITI, Guam\u2014A federal inspection found that a ship repair company might have prevented the death of a rigger at the Port of Guam in November 2022 had they followed legally required safety standards for operating cranes.<\/p>\n
Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s\u00a0Occupational Safety and Health Administration\u00a0learned the rigger was one of 12 workers employed by Guam Industrial Services Inc.\u2014operating as Guam Shipyard\u2014to demolish a gantry crane at the time of the incident. They determined the company was using a barge-mounted crane to lower one leg of a 100-foot-high gantry crane as two welders and the rigger waited on an elevated platform to remove it. Once removed, the part would be cut up and scrapped.<\/p>\n
As welders on the platform cut the crane leg\u2019s base, its full weight caused the barge crane\u2019s boom to bend, which snapped its cable and allowed the load to swing and fatally strike the rigger.<\/p>\n
Inspectors learned that, on\u00a0the morning of the incident, workers raised concerns that the load was too heavy for the crane and suggested cutting the load into pieces. Company management instructed employees to remove the leg in one piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuam Shipyard could have prevented this crane failure and its tragic outcome by ensuring effective and necessary training, procedures and work practices were provided and followed,\u201d said OSHA Area Director Roger Forstner in Honolulu. \u201cThe company\u2019s leadership was made aware of their crew\u2019s safety concerns, yet failed to safeguard its employees as the law requires.\u201d<\/p>\n
Specifically, OSHA found that Guam Shipyard:<\/p>\n
– Failed to determine the weight of the load being lifted by the crane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
– Proceeded with a lift that exceeded the rated capacity of the crane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
– Failed to\u00a0ensure that each crane operator was trained, certified\/licensed and evaluated.<\/p>\n
OSHA has proposed\u00a0$291,312 in penalties, an amount set by federal statutes, and cited the company for two willful violations and one serious violation. Based in Santa Rita, Guam, Guam Industrial Services Inc. is a local, independent company that provides ship repair services including maintenance, support, scheduled overhaul, emergency repair and industrial services.<\/p>\n
Following the November incident, OSHA launched\u00a0a crane safety initiative\u00a0in Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands to enhance safety measures and protect workers against crane hazards. Compliance officers conducted inspections at ports, construction sites and other locations where cranes are in use, as well as outreach activities, on-site consultations and promoted partnerships and alliances to improve compliance and prevent injuries and fatalities.<\/p>\n
The company has\u00a015 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA\u2019s area director, or contest the findings before the independent\u00a0Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. (PR)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PITI, Guam\u2014A federal inspection found that a ship repair company might have prevented the death…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":390344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-390343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}