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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151.
The owner of a Georgia firm that cleans mobile storage
tanks has been sentenced to six months in prison and fined $190,000 after one
of his employees died on the job.
Robert E. Swing, owner of MIT Tank Wash, Inc., has been
sentenced in federal district court in Savannah to a six-month prison term, the
maximum allowable, according to Harry D. Dixon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of Georgia and R. Davis Layne, Regional Administrator for the
U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA).
In addition to a prison term, Swing's sentence includes a
one-year term of supervised release and a fine of $190,000. The Garden City,
Ga., employer's sentence follows his June 21 guilty plea to criminally
violating occupational safety and health standards which caused the death of a
worker.
The criminal charge, classified as a misdemeanor, resulted
from an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) following the May 11, 1993 death of employee
Robert Girvin.
At the time of the accident, MIT Tank Wash employed
between six and 10 workers to clean residue left in mobile storage tanks after
hauling food, non-hazardous materials, or hazardous substances.
Girvin was told to enter and clean a tank which had
transported a hazardous gasoline additive. The process involved use of a
solvent cleaner similar to paint thinner.
When Girvin was overcome by toxic fumes, Swing had no
retrieval system in place to rescue him and, in fact, had returned a retrieval
system he had purchased following an earlier OSHA-sponsored, state consultant's
visit.
Attempts to rescue Girvin, using first an air line and
later a harness supplied by the local fire department, failed. When rescuers
finally pulled Girvin from the tank, they were unable to revive him. He was
pronounced dead on arrival at Candler Hospital.
"Working in areas where toxic fumes may be present can be
dangerous and deadly if employers do not take proper precautions," said Labor
Secretary Robert B. Reich. We will take aggressive action, including referral
for criminal prosecution, when an employer's willful disregard of OSHA
regulations contributes to a worker's death."
Approximately 17 individuals involved in the rescue
attempt were taken to the hospital for observation or treatment.
Following investigation of the accident, OSHA cited MIT
Tank Wash for 12 willfull violations, with proposed penalties of $210,000 for
failing to train employees on hazardous chemicals and confined space entry.
Another $22,500 in penalties was proposed for nine serious violations for,
among other things, lack of an emergency response plan and deficiencies in the
respirator program.
The company contested the citations and later entered a
settlement agreement with the Labor Department stipulating payment of the
penalties. Swing has not paid any of these civil penalties to date.
As a result of OSHA's referral to the U.S. Justice
Department, charges were brought against Swing for contributing to the death of
a worker by knowingly and willfully violating OSHA standards and
regulations.
Inspection of the MIT Wash Tank accident was conducted by
OSHA's area Office in Savannah; telephone: 912/652-4393.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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