No Fine for Fluor-B&W Portsmouth Over Crane Tipping Incident

Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, won’t face a fine from the Department of Energy for an incident that occurred in 2012 involving a 60-ton crane that tipped over at the Portsmouth D&D project. The DOE Office of Enforcement issued FBP a preliminary notice of violation over the incident yesterday, citing the contractor for violations of the Department’s worker safety regulations. “DOE considers the potential for loss of life and/or serious injuries associated with crane operation and the associated violations to be of high safety significance,” DOE Office of Enforcement Director Steven Simonson wrote in an attached letter. “The tip-over could have resulted in at least one fatality. DOE’s evaluation of the circumstances concluded that FBP did not effectively communicate work control program requirements to workers to ensure the performance of work activities in a safe and healthful manner,” Simonson wrote.

According to Simonson’s letter, DOE chose not to impose a financial penalty for the incident because the Department had already reduced FBP’s fee by $150,000 for “a negative safety performance trend during fiscal year (FY) 2012 and continuing into FY 2013that incorporated the crane tip-over event.” Simonson wrote, “DOE acknowledges FBP’s initial response to the event and subsequent corrective actions to address the potential violations and prevent their recurrence. DOE has concluded that FBP’s corrective action plan appears to address the violations cited in this PNOV in order to prevent recurrence. DOE further recognizes FBP’s substantial progress in implementing a broad, steady, long-term effort to address the legacy safety culture issues.”