DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090535

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

SHIPYARD CITED IN 3 DEATH OSHA CLAIMS NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING FAILED TO GIVE PROPER TRAINING

Newport News Shipbuilding's failure to provide adequate training contributed to a July 12 accident that caused the deaths of three employees, a federal safety investigation concluded Wednesday.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered the yard to revamp its training and proposed fining the big Peninsula shipyard $6,300 as a result of the fatal accident aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman.

OSHA cited the yard for not providing adeqaute training to employees who work in confined spaces where dangerous gases may be present.

``We have some differences with the citation,'' said shipyard spokeswoman Jerri Fuller Dickseski. ``We have always been very committed to providing good training to our employees.''

Newport News Shipbuilding requested an informal conference with OSHA to review the citation, Dickseski said. She declined to say if the yard would contest the citation or the fine.

After the accident the shipyard stepped up its training, she said.

The shipyard has 15 days to contest the citation, said OSHA Area Director Charles ``Tom'' Pope.

A union official called the proposed fine inadequate.

``Sixty-three hundred dollars is not even a slap on the hand,'' said Arnold Outlaw, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 8888, which represents the yard's blue-collar employees. ``I don't think the small penalty sends a very strong message to the company.''

Outlaw cited a $125,000 fine issued against a Virginia Beach firm after a 1996 accident that killed four working in dockside sewage tanks at the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station.

``No one wants to put a dollar value on anybody's life, but I'm concerned that the families of the dead are not going to be very satisfied,'' Outlaw said. ``I would only hope that the company will take this seriously.''

OSHA's Pope said the fine is limited based on the violation cited. OSHA can only fine a company $7,000 for failure to provide adequate training for working in enclosed spaces where dangerous gases may be present.

Because Newport News Shipbuilding hadn't been cited by OSHA for any violations in three years the fine was reduced 10 percent.

``It doesn't make a difference if there's a fatality,'' Pope said. ``You can't measure the cost of a human life and we don't try to.''

The July 12 accident at the shipyard killed Roosevelt Eure Jr., 42, and James Morris Jr., 40, both of Newport News, and Richard Thompson, 45, of Virginia Beach.

The three pipefitters were working in the Truman's forward pump room, 10 decks below the flight deck, when they were overcome by hydrogen sulfide and methane as sewage flooded into the room.

The sewage was siphoned into the ship from a pier-side sewage system, Pope said.

OSHA cited the shipyard ``because the employer did not ensure there was adequate training given to employees who enter or work in enclosed spaces where there are known hazards or potential hazards associated with hydrogen sulfide and/or methane gases.''

``The people weren't adequately trained to understand the dangers of these gases - hydrogen sulfide and methane - when working on sewage systems,'' Pope said.

OSHA intends to do a follow-up inspection to ensure that its order is followed, Pope said.

The Truman was evacuated as a result of the accident. The fumes were so strong that rescue personnel were not able to recover the bodies until about 12 hours later.

Outfitting work continues on the Truman, which was christened last fall and is to be delivered to the Navy next summer.

Newport News Shipbuilding has been recognized by OSHA as the safest shipyard in the country. In November 1995, OSHA awarded the yard its Star rating, for which only about 400 of the nation's 6 million OSHA-covered workplaces qualify.

The Star rating recognizes the yard for its voluntary compliance with federal safety requirements and frees it from random OSHA inspections. Accidents and complaints are still investigated, however.

Wednesday's citation won't affect the shipyard's rating, Pope said. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT FATALITY SHIPYARD OSHA CITATION

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