Brinderson, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on May 27, 2003: Employee suffers amputation of fingers

At approximately 1:15 p.m. on May 27, 2003, Employee #1, an iron worker, was wor king with the foreman and other two coworkers in the coker unit of the refinery. Employee #1 was assigned to operate the air tugger winch at ground level to ele vate a structural steel beam into position as part of the North Stair Tower Fire Protection Project. The foreman was giving directions and supervising the proje ct from the twenty-third deck located at the height of approximately 42 ft. Acco rding to the foreman few trials were conducted before starting the hoisting proc ess and Employee #1 was instructed to operate within the frame of the winch. How ever, according to Employee #1 no testing was performed before the hoisting of t he first beam. In addition Employee #1 stated that he was operating the tugger o utside the frame because of the obstruction created by the horizontal iron colum n. The air tugger winch was not bolted to the ground and was tied by means of on e wire cable. According to the foreman during the first hoist a strong jerk was observed on the air tugger cable. Moreover Employee #1 stated that during the ho isting process the choker on the machine stretched and the winch shifted forward and lifted. At this time, the foreman gave directions to Employee #1 to stop th e winch. After receiving the signal, Employee #1 reached over to apply the brake s. However, due to the winch displacement, Employee #1 lost his balance and was afraid that his foot might be caught under the winch and placed his right hand o n the drum. Simultaneously, as Employee #1 reached over to apply brakes, his sto mach came in contact with the "Up and Down" control lever activating the tugger winch in reverse. Employee #1's hand was still on the drum as the winch was reac tivated and his right index and middle finger got caught between the cable and t he drum. At this time a coworker who was standing in close proximity jumped the barricade and activated the brakes. Employee #1 suffered amputations of the tips of the right middle and index fingers. Employee #1 was treated for his injuries but was not hospitalized.

Incident on May 21, 2002: Employee injured when burned by oil line explosion

At 12:21 p.m. on May 21, 2002, Employee #1, a contractor welder, was injured whe n another nearby contractor employee began to torch cut an out-of-service crude oil pipeline in a tank farm area at a 250,000 barrel-per-day refinery. The 24-in ch by 1000-foot long crude line had been drained and emptied, but had not been s teamed, cleaned, or made gas free when the incident occurred. The incident occur red as the welder's helper began torch cutting the top west end of the crude lin e when a sudden explosion and subsequent fire occurred that injured Employee #1, the welder, who was nearby on the same work platform as the helper. Employee #1 was treated with first aid and subsequently hospitalized for medical treatment for first-and-second-degree burns to the face, hands, arms, back and legs and a third-degree burn to the right calf. No other employees reported injuries.