News Release

UPDATED: US Department of Labor issues $167K in penalties to address workplace safety deficiencies after 29-year-old worker’s electrocution at Clinton TVA

Employers:                William Specialty Services LLC

                                    100 Crescent Centre Parkway, Tucker, GA 30084
 

                                    G UB MK Constructors

                                    297 River Road, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661
 

                                    Tennessee Valley Authority

                                    1101 Market St., Chattanooga, TN 37402
 

Citations issued:        William Specialty Services LLC

                                    One willful, two serious violations

                                    Proposed penalty: $152,900
 

                                    G UB MK Constructors

                                    One serious violation

                                    Proposed penalty: $14,502
 

                                    Tennessee Valley Authority

                                    One serious notice of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions
 

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration began an inspection at the TVA Bull Run Fossil Plant in Clinton, Tennessee, on Sept. 16, 2021, after a 29-year-old industrial insulation installer fell 5 feet through the top of a metal electrical equipment compartment and made contact with the energized electrical equipment in the compartment, resulting in the worker’s electrocution.

OSHA found Williams Specialty Services, G UB MK Constructors and TVA exposed workers to fall and electrocution hazards by not determining if the walking and working surfaces employees were working from had the strength and structural integrity to support them safely. The agency also found Williams Specialty failed to provide safe access to elevated platforms; and failed to initiate and maintain programs that provide frequent and regular inspections by a competent person of the job site and equipment.

Quote: “Had the employer identified and mitigated safety hazards at the work site as required, this tragedy could have been prevented,” said OSHA Area Director William Cochran in Nashville, Tennessee. “Employers are legally and morally obligated to provide their workers a work environment where their safety is not in jeopardy. It’s time all employers realize that as well.”

Background: Executive Order 12196 directs federal agencies to comply with the same safety and health standards as private sector employers covered under the OSH Act. The federal agency equivalent to a private sector citation is the Notice of Unsafe and Unhealthful Working Conditions, commonly called “the notice.” The notice is used to inform agency officials of violations of OSHA standards, alternate standards and 29 Code of Federal Regulations citable program elements. OSHA cannot propose monetary penalties against another federal agency for failure to comply with OSHA standards.

Editor’s note: This release was updated to provide the correct link to the notice of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions issued to TVA.

Agency
Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Date
March 22, 2022
Release Number
22-499-ATL
Media Contact: Eric R. Lucero
Phone Number
Media Contact: Erika Ruthman
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