The Department of Energy has deducted about $890,000 in fee award from the prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. after a worker lost part of two fingers in a 2021 accident.
The agency’s Enterprise Assessments’ Office of Enforcement issued a preliminary notice of violation of worker health and safety standards Monday against the Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership following an investigation of the May 2021 crushing injury.
The injury was sustained to the right hand of a worker during post-maintenance component testing on a Getman model A64 waste transporter at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), according to the press release.
“DOE considers the transporter hand crush injury (amputation) event to be of high safety significance,” according to the Office of Investigations Office letter. “The worker’s injury was severe, requiring surgical amputation of portions of the injured worker’s right index and middle fingers.”
The event occurred when a pallet drive chain was cycling from the “on” to the “off” position during testing, causing the pallet locking system to rotate as designed from the up to the down position, crushing two of the worker’s fingers between the pallet lock and the transporter deck.
An investigation concluded in July 2022 revealed shortcomings in management responsibilities, hazard identification and assessment, training and information, injury recording and reporting and emergency response, according to the report.
The preliminary notice of violation cites two Severity Level I violations and two Severity Level II violations, according to the letter. As a result, DOE withheld $889,423 in contract award fees from Nuclear Waste Partnership. The company also includes junior partner BWX Technologies.
Unless the prime responds to the preliminary notice of violation within 30 days, it relinquishes its appeal rights. The company declined to comment.
