Virginia terminals had 17 safety violations in five years

NORFOLK

The federal safety violation that hit the Virginia Port Authority's terminal operator last month after the December death of a longshoreman was its 17th in the past five years, records show.

Since Jan. 1, 2005, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had cited Virginia International Terminals Inc. 16 times before dock foreman David B. Weiland was killed at Norfolk International Terminals on Dec. 22, according to data from OSHA's Web site.

Weiland was the sixth person to die in an industrial accident at the state's marine terminals in that five-year period. He was killed when a machine used to move shipping containers struck a 105-foot light pole that fell and crushed his car.

Virginia International Terminals Inc., a private, tax-exempt company established in the early 1980s, operates the Port Authority's state-owned terminals.

Of the 16 prior violations, OSHA classified 10 as "serious," meaning there was a "substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and where the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard."

The list also included one repeat violation, defined as "a violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order where, upon reinspection, a substantially similar violation is found" within three years.

OSHA levied initial penalties totaling $39,375 against VIT for the previous violations. Through informal settlements, the company paid $23,100, agency records show.

The most recent violation notice, also deemed serious, was issued on Feb. 17. OSHA proposed a penalty of $7,000 - the maximum for a serious violation - which VIT has the right to contest.

The agency found that VIT "did not implement or provide refresher training to operators of powered industrial trucks" who previously were involved in accidents or near-miss incidents.

The employee operating the vehicle that hit the light pole had been involved in several previous incidents in which objects were struck, according to OSHA; however, he never received refresher training.

In an e-mail response Wednesday to questions from The Virginian-Pilot, Port Authority spokesman Joe Harris wrote that the issue had been "abated" and the employee involved in the accident now is ineligible to operate cargo-handling equipment.

"He will remain ineligible until his training and recertification are complete; the retraining process has not yet started," Harris wrote.

The employee had been involved in four minor accidents, none of which involved personal injury, according to Harris.

"Any workplace that experiences deaths during a period of a couple of years is going to stand out unfavorably," said OSHA expert J.H. "Rip" Verkerke, professor of law and director of the Program for Employment and Labor Law Studies at the University of Virginia.

"In a risky industry, there are lots of opportunities to cause harm," said Verkerke, who noted that the number of violations actually has trended downward at VIT since 2005.

VIT is scheduled to meet with OSHA officials in an informal conference scheduled for Friday of next week, according to its e-mail.

Joseph A. Dorto, VIT's CEO, said in a January speech to the maritime community that safety had become the port's top priority.

"We have had what I consider to be an unsuccessful last few years where people have been killed on the terminals, and that's not acceptable," Dorto said. "That's going to be our No. 1 priority - to make sure that our employees are safe."

Harris, responding to one of The Pilot's questions, wrote that after Weiland's death "it was determined that all of VIT's safety policies and procedures would be reviewed and updated, regardless of OSHA's report and findings."

Pilot writer Matthew Bowers contributed to this report.

Robert McCabe, (757)-446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com