Hanford Site tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Energy Office of Enforcement over a subcontractor worker who fell into an abandoned septic system.
The company has agreed to pay $45,000 and take actions to improve safety, including with its subcontractors, according to a consent order signed by the department’s Office of Enforcement and WRPS. Steven Simonson, director of the Office of Enforcement, said in a letter to WRPS President Mark Lindholm that “in deciding to enter into this consent order, DOE placed considerable weight on WRPS’s investigation of the event and the credible corrective actions to improve hazard identification and control during the work planning process.” The letter was dated Nov. 4, and the consent order was released on Nov. 25.
On Jan. 21, 2016, three American Electric Inc. construction laborers were digging by hand to locate a disused septic tank in the AX Tank Farm, the consent decree says. They were wearing protective clothing and supplied air respirators with one-hour air bottles. The top of the tank collapsed as one of the laborers was digging to locate it buried under about 3 feet of soil. He fell into the tank, but his respiratory equipment caught on the soil above the tank and he grabbed onto the soil and yelled for help, according to the consent decree. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board staff reported in their weekly report following the incident that the worker was submerged in liquid to just above his waist.
Several nearby workers helped get the laborer out of the septic tank. The worker was not injured and had no radioactive contamination, but a rescuer injured his back. Workers called American Electric officials, who sent the company’s emergency personnel to the tank farm. They had the laborer remove his contaminated clothing and use an emergency safety shower, the consent order states. The Hanford Fire Department arrived about 14 minutes after being called, and about 40 minutes after the fall occurred the laborer and his rescuers were transported to Hanford’s on-site medical provider.
Although no one was seriously hurt, the incident had the potential for significant injuries, Simonson wrote in his letter. “The event was preventable and revealed deficiencies in WRPS’s processes for hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and abatement, training and communication of hazards, and planning and execution of emergency response and rescue activities,” he said. WRPS submitted an occurrence report and also voluntarily submitted a report into DOE’s Noncompliance Tracking System. The DNFSB reported that WRPS moved quickly to begin evaluating other areas throughout the tank farms with potential for collapse after the laborer’s fall.
WRPS is required under the consent order to complete several actions by June 30, 2017. It must establish a list of all inactive septic tanks and documented sinkholes in the tank farms. It must inspect all inactive septic tanks and make sure warning signs are posted nearby, and ensure that access controls are in place for sinkholes. WRPS also will evaluate its work planning process to determine whether it adequately addresses emergency response and rescue capabilities for specific tasks. Its subcontractor selection process must be evaluated to ensure it determines whether subcontractors are experienced and qualified to protect worker safety.
