DATE: Tuesday, July 15, 1997                TAG: 9707150105

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   95 lines

SHIPYARD REMEMBERS 3 WHO DIED ON TRUMAN

Union workers at Newport News Shipbuilding will remember three fellow workers who died there Saturday with a memorial service at 6 a.m. today.

The service will be held at the shipyard's 50th Street gate before the day shift starts work, said Arthur Keyes, vice president of Local 8888 of the United Steelworkers of America.

The union represents the Peninsula shipyard's 12,000 blue-collar employees.

``It really hurts when anybody gets injured, much less when somebody loses a life,'' Keyes said.

Three workers died on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman when the pump room in which they were working filled with methane and hydrogen sulfide gases from a sewage leak.

The men who died are Richard Thompson, 45, of Virginia Beach; Roosevelt Eure Jr., 42, of Newport News; and James Morris Jr., 40, of Newport News. All three were pipefitters. Each had 10 to 23 years of experience at the yard.

There were 1,800 workers on the ship when the incident occurred, but only two were treated and released for exposure to the fumes. An abandon-ship alarm sounded right after the leak was reported, just before noon Saturday.

No new details on the accident came out Monday. ``We're not going to have any information for days or even weeks,'' said shipyard spokeswoman Jerri Fuller Dickseski.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. OSHA officials in Norfolk and Washington could not be reached for comment Monday. OSHA's investigation will take at least several weeks, Dickseski said.

Dickseski confirmed that the men who died were working on a sewage line when the incident occurred, but could not confirm anything else.

Keyes declined to comment on how the accident happened, saying the union is working with OSHA and the shipyard on the investigation.

The fatalities are the first at the yard since last July, when a subcontractor working for Norfolk-based Atlantic Ordnance & Gyro Co. Inc. was electrocuted.

The last shipyard employee to die in an accident at the yard died in 1990 when a steel structure he was dismantling collapsed on him.

Shipyards are inherently dangerous places, with lots of welding in confined places, large pieces of steel being moved, high-voltage electrical lines, and pipes filled with steam.

Still, OSHA has recognized Newport News Shipbuilding as the safest workplace of its kind in the nation. In December 1995, OSHA awarded the yard its top ``Star'' rating for excellence in workplace health and safety.

The yard was the largest workplace in the nation to earn the designation, the only one in Virginia and the only shipyard in the nation.

OSHA also admitted the yard to its Voluntary Protection Program in 1995 because of its safety record. The program establishes a cooperative relationship between the yard and OSHA. It means the yard is not subject to regular inspections, only investigations that result from complaints, chemical leaks and fatalities, Dickseski said.

The shipyard was one of about 250 work places admitted to the program, out of more than 6 million for which OSHA is responsible.

``If they're in the Voluntary Protection Program, they must take safety seriously,'' said safety consultant Matthew M. Carmel, also president of OSHA DATA, a New Jersey safety information firm.

The shipyard had an accident case rate of 17.8 percent in 1994, meaning 17.8 of every 100 employees had a reportable incident of some sort. The industry average is 35 percent. An incident can be anything that makes an employee stop working, even a finger cut. Also, the yard had a lost-time rate of 4.2 percent, compared with 8 percent for the industry.

The shipyard could not provide updated safety statistics Monday.

Since 1988, OSHA has fined the shipyard $7,450 as a result of investigations in the Newport News yard, according to an OSHA DATA report. The last case resulting in a fine was closed in 1994, the report showed.

Flags at the shipyard are flying at half-staff this week and the shipyard plans a 30-second whistle blow and moment of silence Wednesday in memory of the dead workers.

Work on the Truman resumed at midnight Sunday, except in the areas where the accident occurred. The Truman is tied to an outfitting pier at the north end of the yard. The flattop is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy and commissioned next July.

The Navy does not plan an independent investigation of the accident. Until the ship is commissioned, it is not considered a Navy asset. The Navy is, however, cooperating with the investigation, officials said.

No Navy personnel live aboard the carrier and only a few routinely work there, the Navy said. About 60 Navy personnel were aboard Saturday when the gas leak occurred. They mainly are assigned to the engineering and nuclear reactor department.

Of its eventual crew of about 3,000, not counting air wing personnel who come aboard when the ship is at sea, about 850 are currently assigned to the Truman's crew, the Navy said. Most live in barracks ashore in Norfolk or surrounding areas and won't move aboard until next year, when sleeping quarters and dining facilities open. MEMO: Staff writer Jack Dorsey contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

A memorial service will be held at 6 a.m. today at the shipyard's

50th street gate. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT NEWPORT NEWS SHIPYARD GENERAL FATALITY

USS TRUMAN

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu