OSHA fine Braintree gas company for Marshfield explosion.
The employer did not determine that compressed gas cylinders under his control were in a safe condition
By Chris Burrell
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Aug. 28, 2015 at 1:27 PM
MARSHFIELD, MASS.
Three months after a gas tank explosion that seriously injured two people in Marshfield, federal safety investigators have ruled that a Braintree-based gas company committed serious violations that led to the explosion.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Williams Energy of Braintree $4,900 for failure to provide a safe workplace and poor training of its employees.
The explosion happened on May 26 when a Williams employee was refilling a 100-pound propane tank that ruptured.
The 4-foot tank blasted 30 to 40 feet into the air, flew over the highway and crashed into the parking lot of a liquor store across the street, witnesses said.
The explosion seriously injured a 51-year-old Duxbury man who had brought the tank to Williams Coal and Oil and the employee, identified by Marshfield police as a 66-year-old Scituate man.
The Duxbury man was taken by helicopter from Marshfield Airport to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and treated for injuries to his legs, Marshfield Police Chief Phillip Tavares said in May.
Officials have not released the names of the two victims.
OSHA inspectors who investigated the explosion said there was “improper handling and filling” of the gas tank.
“Employees were not properly trained nor was training documented,” the OSHA report stated. “The employer did not determine that compressed gas cylinders under his control were in a safe condition.”
Williams Energy reached a settlement agreement with OSHA and corrected the violations cited by the federal inspectors.
“The company corrected the hazard, updated its safety and health program, retrained employees and has contacted the state safety consultation program to utilize its services,” OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said in an email.
The company must pay the $4,900 penalty to OSHA by Monday.
Williams Energy did not return a call from the Ledger seeking comment.
The tank explosion in May happened along a busy stretch of Route 139.
Tavares said in May that the tank “propelled through the air like a missile” and left a crater in the ground.
Workers at Blanchards Liquor across the street reported hearing a loud explosion.
“I thought the roof was collapsing. You just knew something bad happened,” said Linda Doyle, head cashier at the Blanchards store.
“I saw it come over the parking lot,” said Jim Pircio, the wine manager at Blanchards. “It just missed a car driving in. It was 30 to 40 feet in the air.”
The tank knocked down several tree limbs as it shot over Route 139, also called Plain Street , and landed in a parking lot by the liquor store, Tavares said.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office is still conducting its own investigation of the tank rupture.