The Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health System is facing three notices from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over workplace injuries.
During an October 2022 inspection of the Prescott facility, safety inspectors discovered one willful and two repeated violations of forcing maintenance employees to work without following safety procedures. OSHA says the Arizona VA’s negligence resulted in severe burns while working on a steam line.
“Federal law requires all employers, public or private, to provide a safe workplace. Management at all Veterans Affairs facilities should review their employee safety and health programs to ensure they comply with industry and OSHA standards for isolating hazardous energy before another tragedy occurs,” said OSHA Area Director T. Zachary Barnett.
Similar action was taken at a West Haven, Connecticut, facility in November 2020. Two workers died from fatal burns also on a steam line in a VA hospital.
“Despite the tragic and preventable deaths of two workers at a facility in Connecticut in 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allowed the same hazards to endanger employees working on steam lines at its Prescott, Arizona, facility,” Barnett said.
Upon inspection, OSHA determined the burns were caused by neglect of an energy-isolating procedure known as lockout within the industry. Without this knowledge, hazardous energy was released while the lines were being serviced.
OSHA said all employees need to be properly trained to work on such maintenance projects to prevent any other serious injuries at their facilities in the future. Executive Order 12196 requires all federal agencies to comply with the same operational safety requirements as the private sector under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
While a private organization could face penalties of up to $315,875 for similar negligence by OSHA, the Arizona VA, as a federal agency, faces no financial repercussions. The Arizona VA has 15 business days to resolve the issue or appeal to OSHA’s regional administrator in San Francisco.
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
