3 Killed in Factory Explosion
The New York Times
January 30, 2003
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER with JAMES BARRON
nytimes.com
The following is an excerpt from the article:
"Last October, the plant was cited for 15 safety violations
by the North Carolina division of occupational safety and health. Seven violations
were deemed serious, meaning that they were potentially life threatening.
According to state inspection records, the violations included operating
manufacturing equipment without adequate safety guards, failing to ensure that
equipment was properly shut down during maintenance and inadequately protecting
employees working in confined spaces. The inspectors also found that fire extinguishers
were not readily accessible and that the plant had failed to develop an emergency plan
for chemical accidents.
But state officials emphasized last night that the plant's safety problems
were not considered particularly flagrant, especially when compared with
other plants of its size. Indeed, the inspectors who visited in October
"thought it was a well-maintained plant," said Juan Santos, a spokesman
for the State Department of Labor, which oversees the division of occupational
safety and health."
Although the plant was initially fined $10,863 for the violations, the fines were reduced to $9,075 after the company showed that it had acted to
correct its safety shortcomings.
A team of state safety inspectors went to the plant after the explosion. But Mr. Santos said last night that the inspectors had not determined
whether safety failures had contributed to the explosion."
nytimes.com |
