Report says deadly steam blast at VA hospital could have been avoided

A high-pressure blast of hot steam that killed two men at the West Haven VA Medical Center last year could have been prevented if safety standards were followed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded Wednesday.

A high-pressure blast of hot steam that killed two men at the West Haven VA Medical Center last year could have been prevented if safety standards were followed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded Wednesday.

“These fatalities could have been prevented if the employer had complied with safety standards that are designed to prevent the uncontrolled release of steam,” OSHA Area Director Steven Biasi said. “Tragically, these well-known protective measures were not in place and two workers needlessly lost their lives.”

The agency issued the VA nine notices of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions and cited Mulvaney Mechanical Inc., a contractor, for four serious violations. The proposed penalty for Mulvaney’s violations is $38,228.

If the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs were a private employer, its penalties would add up to $621,218, OSHA said. One federal agency isn’t permitted to fine another.

Euel T. Sims, Jr., 60, a VA employee and veteran, and contractor Joseph O’Donnell, 36, were killed Nov. 13 in what investigators said was a “pressure event.” The high-pressure release of steam caused superheated water vapor to fill the building the menwere working in. The men had just replaced a leaky steam pipe when they died.

Three other workers who tried to get into the building were injured.

Among other things, OSHA found that the VA failed to:

▪ Properly shut down to avoid increased hazards;

▪ Render safe all potentially hazardous, residual energy such as condensation (water);

▪ Maintain adequate procedures for isolating each steam main branch that supplies campus buildings;

▪ Conduct a periodic inspection of all safety procedures to correct inadequacies;

▪ Provide adequate training to supervisory employees.

▪ The VA has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference or appeal.

OSHA cited the contractor, Mulvaney Mechanical of Danbury, for, among other things, failing to:

▪ Develop, document and use safety procedures for the control of potentially hazardous energy;

▪ Adequately train employees on the methods necessary to isolate and control energy;

▪ Inform the VA of its safety procedures. Mulvaney Mechanical has 15 business days to comply, request a conference or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said the VA is committed to fixing problems at the “decaying and outmoded” facility. But Congress must approve the money to rebuild it, he said.

” The leadership of the VA Connecticut

has committed to correcting mechanical procedures and oversight weaknesses that resulted in the explosion and two worker deaths,” he said.

“The November 13 tragedy was simply the latest and perhaps most serious of costly infrastructure failures, including burst pipes, insect infestations, and other signs of infrastructure collapse,’’ Blumenthal said in a statement released by his office. “Ultimately, patching them with shortterm fixes is more expensive than starting over. My hope is Congress will come together in a positive and proactive bipartisan response to build back better at the VA.”