No fine issued for Hanford industrial accident after worker breaks vertebrae

Bechtel National will not be fined for an industrial accident at the Hanford nuclear reservation that left a worker with broken vertebrae.

The Department of Energy's Office of Enforcement notified the vitrification plant contractor this week of the results of its investigation into the November 2016 incident.

The event had "high safety significance" and injuries could have been more severe, according to the Office of Enforcement.

But the agency chose not to fine Bechtel because the Hanford DOE office that employs the contractor already docked Bechtel's incentive pay for 2016 by nearly $560,000 for safety shortcomings that included the incident, according to the Office of Enforcement.

Preparations were being made Nov. 4, 2016, for pressure testing a piping system to be used for cooling water at the nuclear reservation's vitrification plant.

The massive plant has been under construction since 2002 and will be used to turn up to 56 million gallons of radioactive waste into a stable glass form for disposal. The waste is left from the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.

Some excavation of the piping system had been done to install valves in nearby pipes, when a 12-inch pipe unexpectedly separated at a joint and sprayed a pressurized stream of water.

The water hit a worker, knocking him to the ground.

The worker suffered two broken vertebrae and many cuts on the head, according to the Office of Enforcement.

He was on medical leave for 70 days and then returned to work with medical restrictions for 84 days and continued to require physical therapy.

The Office of Enforcement report said that pipefitters and their management identified difficulties in venting air from the piping system since it was installed more than a decade ago. But an analysis had not been done to find the cause or to establish a safe process for venting the air.

Because the system was pressurized at 125 pounds per square inch, the large amount of trapped air compressed and added to the severity of the accident when the pipe joint failed, the report said. It found that the amount of pressure used was excessive.

Bechtel managers and supervisors did not followed established work planning and control processes to make sure the filling and venting of the piping system could be completed safely, the report said.

It found that workers had inadequate training for the work.

The training most applicable for the hazards of the pressure test was required reading but records showed one of the newly hired pipefitters on the project spent just one minute reading about each of three topics: pressure testing, underground pipe installation, and barricades and signs, the report said.

The Office of Enforcement credited Bechtel for the measures it took after the incident.

"After the injury occurred, the project immediately paused similar pipe pressure testing activities," said Brian Reilly, Bechtel vitrification plant project director, in a message to employees late Wednesday afternoon.

A thorough investigation was done and modifications were made to the piping system and to work processes to prevent similar incidents, Reilly said.

However, the Office of Enforcement "remains concerned that the potential impact of prior pressure tests on system components has not been fully assessed" to see if additional actions could help protect workers from system failures, the report said.

Reilly reminded workers that they can stop work if they are concerned about potential safety issues and that managers and supervisors are expected to be open to issues that are raised.

"These types of injures are unacceptable," he said in his employee message.

Even though a fine wasn't issued, the violation would be part of Bechtel's record unless the company decides to contest the decision in the next 30 days.

Annette Cary; 509-582-1533; @HanfordNews

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 5:18 PM with the headline "No fine issued for Hanford industrial accident after worker breaks vertebrae."