IBEW Local Union #725

SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!

This is one reason why licensing and worker ordinances need to be implemented, re-established, made strong, and enforced - Everyone has the
right to go home safe and free of injury.

Bloomington man among those taken to Wishard Hospital with severe burns

By James Boyd
Hoosier Times
August 27, 2006

BLOOMINGTON An electrical accident injured a group of contractors working at the new Wal-Mart store Saturday afternoon, severely burning three and injuring two others after they were shocked with more than 12,000 volts of electricity.

Three victims were transported to the burn unit at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis at 5:45 p.m. They were reported to be in critical condition late Saturday.

The identities of only two patients were released as law enforcement attempted to notify the families of the others.

Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein, and Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson, were both being treated at Wishard.

Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Randy Jacobs said the other critically injured worker was from Bloomington, but authorities had yet to reach his next of kin, who live outside of Indiana.

All three men who were critically injured suffered severe second- and third-degree burns over much of their bodies, emergency personnel on the scene said. One reportedly suffered burns to more than 90 percent of his body.

Jacobs said the workers had been working on an electrical panel inside the new store when a piece of metal made contact with the live panel, causing the workers to be shocked.

"One of the workers described the incident as having fire shooting outside of the box," Jacobs said.

The equipment the men were working on was large enough to command its own small room on the south side of the facility. The fusebox had about 12,400 volts and 400 amps of electricity running through it at the time.

Beth Keck, director of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, said the men were contractors and directed questions to their employer. However, it wasnt immediately clear what company the men were employed by.

Van Buren Township Fire Chief Tim Deckard said the men had been doing electrical work when one of the wires apparently came loose, causing an arc that shocked all the men.

"They were inside this little room there in the rear of the structure," Deckard said. "One of the co-workers in the building extinguished the fire that was there. We had smoke in the building, but there was no visible fire, so our crews went into EMS mode."

When emergency personnel first arrived, the power to the fusebox was still live, and a Duke Energy crew had to rush to the scene to kill the power before anyone could help the victims.

Several fire departments and law enforcement agencies responded to the scene, in addition to Bloomington Hospitals Ambulance Service.

"Were investigating the whole incident," he said. "From when they were working to when the fire happened, that will all fall right into what were looking at. Our investigator went back to the site (later Saturday) and has begun piecing things together."

Burned workers still in hospital
No word on identity of Bloomington man in critical condition after accident at new Wal-Mart

Two men severely burned in an electrical accident Saturday were listed in stable but serious condition in the burn unit at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis Sunday evening.

Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein, and Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson, were taken to the hospital Saturday afternoon after being shocked with more than 12,000 volts of electricity.

A third critically injured victim who was also taken to Wishard is a Bloomington resident but has not yet been identified, pending notification of out-of-state family.

The accident happened as a group of contractors worked at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction on Bloomingtons west side.

Two other workers, who were not as seriously injured, were treated at Bloomington Hospital.

The three most seriously injured men suffered severe second and third-degree burns over much of their bodies, according to emergency personnel on the scene.

The workers had been working on an electrical panel inside the new store when a piece of metal made contact with the live panel.

The three men injured Saturday at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter were listed in critical condition in the burn unit at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis Monday night.

Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein, Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson and Robert Eury of Bloomington were injured by an electrical flash inside the small switchgear room.

All three are employees of Electromation of Muncie. The office manager for Electromation said Monday she had no comment. Owner Larry Coffey was out of the office and couldn't be reached for comment.

The investigation is in its early stages, but a few workers gave their recollection of the event.

The sound of generators humming Monday outside the new Wal-Mart Supercenter on Bloomington's west side drowned out the traffic on busy Ind. 45.

But the power was turned off to the switchgear room in the back of the store, according to several workers.

Harry Arnett said he was working on the site Saturday when he heard what sounded like a crack of lightning hitting the building. Then, as he was walking toward the rear of the building, he saw a man on fire running by.

It was Robert Eury. Eury made it about 30 yards outside before Arnett knocked him to the ground to try to extinguish the flames. Arnett said Eury had crawled out of a small opening in the south wall of the building, near the room where he had been working.

"If it weren't for us sheet metal guys, they probably would be burned up," Arnett said.

Eury and two other men had been pulling wire into the switchgear room, a roughly 6-by-25-foot room in the back of the building. Arnett said the men were working in a tight area within the room and likely dropped a piece of the breaker.

Arnett, who works for Morris Sheetmetal, said Monday that it appeared the men weren't wearing protective gear while working with the live panel.

"They're supposed to," he said. He spoke with Eury while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The only unburned portion of Eury's body was the top of his head. The only clothing left was along the heavy seam lines along his legs and where his belt and boots had been.

Monday, yellow caution tape was strewn around the switchgear room and signs warned to keep the doors closed.

The switchgear room is encased in metal. It is about 9 feet tall. About 20 small tubes lead into the top of the room, through which workers must pull wire to connect to the power source.

One field supervisor with Electromation, who declined to give his name, said there is no rule about the power being on or off. He wasn't sure if the men were wearing protective equipment Saturday but said all protective means were in use.

"Something fell on a panel and there was a flash," he said. A flash is like a ball of fire, he said.

According to Dave Roach, a senior electrical engineer with ASP Corp., there are about 12,000 volts in the wires that lead into the transformer box outside the store. The transformer takes that voltage down to 480 volts, which is what probably was going through the switchgear room at the time of the accident. ASP is a major Wal-Mart vendor, he said.

Keith Crittenden of Electromation said he has worked in the room, but wasn't there Saturday. He went in the room Monday and said it looked black, as if there had been an explosion.

Two inspectors from the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on site Monday. They said they couldn't comment on the ongoing investigation and would not give their names.

Paul Gratti, field superintendent with LaSalle General Contractors, had no comment Monday on whether the accident could have been prevented.

Jason Wetzel, a Wal-Mart spokesman in Indianapolis, said the company's primary concern at this time is for the workers and their families.

Wetzel said Wal-Mart is scheduled to take possession of the building in mid-September, and there weren't any Wal-Mart employees at the site.

"Unfortunately these kind of accidents do happen," he said. "We want the best workers building our stores."

Emergency personnel load a victim of an electrical accident into the ambulance Saturday. On Monday, workers helping to build Bloomington's new Wal-Mart Supercenter described the harrowing scene in which three employees of an electrical subcontractor were seriously injured. The three men are still listed in critical condition in Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. Inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were at the site Monday to begin an investigation.

Electrical workers trained to take safety precautions

by Emily Thickstun
331-4363 | ethickstun@heraldt.com
August 29, 2006

Electricians in the local union have to go through five years and 8,000 hours of on-the-job training.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has page after page of regulations on electrical work on its Web site, www.osha.gov.

After an electrical accident that burned three men at the Wal-Mart construction site Saturday, Tom Szymanski, an organizer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 725 in Bloomington, said he has concerns about the Wal-Mart Supercenter construction.

"You're not supposed to be working on anything that's hot or energized," he said Monday.

He said Saturday's accident possibly could have been prevented with trained workers.

The local union's business manager, Todd Thacker, said electricians should never work with a live, uncovered panel without protective gloves and headgear. He said it is a violation of worker safety rules.

Thacker said the local union has been pushing for an electrical work license with the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce that would specify the skill level required to do electrical work.

Tim Grogg, the special assistant commissioner for Indiana OSHA, said accident investigations are fact-specific.

"There are a myriad of standards that apply to different situations. There are many regulations dealing with electricity," he said.

Grogg said the inspectors have met with good cooperation with the general contractor so far, but it will take time to determine exactly what happened.

The victims are in critical condition, but Grogg hopes his office is able to speak with them to learn more details.

On Monday, Grogg researched, on his computer, Electromation, the Muncie company that employs the three injured workers. He didn't see any violations since 1990.

While the inspectors are conducting their investigation, any other OSHA violations will be included in the report.

Injured workers should have been wearing protective equipment
Steve Abbott and Robert Eury in critical condition at Wishard; Scott Shelton taken to Riley Hospital

by Emily Thickstun
331-4363 | ethickstun@heraldt.com
August 30, 2006

The workers injured at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter should have been wearing protective equipment.

One witness, who helped extinguish the flames Saturday, said it didn't appear the men had been wearing protective clothing.

According to industry trainer Vince May, who has been teaching electrical safety since 1998, companies are required to ensure proper safety measures are in use for anyone in the vicinity of live electrical work.

There are five levels of protective clothing used in electrical work. Which one is needed depends on the energy level leading into the building.

"Simply coming near it triggers the need for these protective measures," May said Tuesday.

He said the clothing levels range from 100 percent cotton to Nomex material and chemically treated cotton material.

Nomex is the flame-resistant material worn by race car drivers. It is manufactured by DuPont. May described it as a "moon suit."

According to the DuPont Web site, "Nomex is a synthetic aromatic polyamide polymer that provides high levels of electrical, chemical and mechanical integrity when converted into its various sheet forms."

Three electrical workers were severely burned at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter Saturday. They had been pulling wire into a "switchgear" room, a small room encased in metal at the rear of the store, when something triggered a fireball or electric flash.

A field supervisor said Monday that "something fell on a panel and there was a flash."

At the new Wal-Mart Supercenter site on Bloomington's west side, workers perform many different tasks each day.

A team just started building a new gas station on Monday; electricians are routing wiring and cutting conduits; and other workers are building duct work for the warehouse-style store. All workers have detailed safety rules they must follow.

It is unclear what level of training the three Electromation employees injured in Saturday's accident had prior to beginning work that day. It also is unclear what type of protective clothing the men were wearing.

Representatives from Electromation have declined to comment on the workers' training and what safety precautions they were required to follow. The workers involved in the accident were nonunion.

Union or not, worker safety is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly known as OSHA. Indiana is one of 26 states that have decided to regulate themselves under state OSHA offices.

Tim Grogg, deputy commissioner of Indiana OSHA, said the state agency is required to follow all federal OSHA standards.

"Operation of the agency is done by the state with little federal oversight," Grogg said.

He said accident investigators have to determine which standards apply to specific jobs. He wouldn't comment on the Wal-Mart investigation or any other specific scenarios.

But May, the industry trainer, said one safety method he has used is called "lock-out, tag-out." It is a method of ensuring workers are dealing with de-energized equipment.

"We physically place a lock with a tag on it that says who put it on there," May said. This shows other workers that the power has been shut off and tells when the lock was placed.

He said there probably was a main switch on the building that the workers could've turned off.

"The rule is turn it off unless (turning it off is) a threat to human life. There are over 2,000 severe arc flash injuries annually," May said.

On Monday, several workers said the power had previously been turned off to the switchgear room, where the accident occurred.

Todd Thacker, business manager with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 725, said he challenges Electromation to prove their workers are qualified.

OSHA requires companies to keep training records, which can include both on- and off-the-job training.

Thacker said the ease of obtaining construction permits is worrisome. He said any master electrician can go to the Monroe County Building Department in the courthouse and get a working permit. He said the permit can then be given to anyone else for work to be carried out in the county.

"There is no way to check to make sure a person has the qualified training to do the work," Thacker said. "The (live electrical) panel is to remain covered unless there is a qualified electrician working on it."

The standards for qualification are determined by individual companies, Thacker said. He said union electricians go through many hours of training, such as a 30-hour OSHA class that was held this spring.

The union offers "upgrade classes" for free. Thacker said there are about 150 IBEW union members who work in the Bloomington area. He said with the Labor Day holiday coming up, this type of accident should raise awareness of the importance of unions.

Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein and Robert Eury of Bloomington remained in critical condition in the Wishard Hospital burn unit Tuesday.

Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson was in critical condition in the burn unit at Riley Hospital for Children. A spokesperson for Riley wouldn't comment on the reason for the transfer because of privacy laws, but she said burn treatment is very intensive.

Todd Harper, with Wishard, said the hospitals are in the same campus and often share resources.

Three electrical workers burned on the Wal-Mart Supercenter job site Saturday should have been wearing protective equipment, according to local union officials and OSHA regulations. The company that hires the workers has the burden of making sure safety precautions are taken. The workers are still in critical condition. One has been transferred to another hospital.

Thursday

Workers say rush to finish made job unsafe
Wal-Mart workers say project was behind, safety protocol not followed before accident

By Emily Thickstun
331-4363 | ethickstun@heraldt.com
August 31, 2006

Workers at the Wal-Mart Supercenter construction site where three men were critically burned in an accident Saturday say the project is at least a month behind schedule and safety has taken a backseat to speed.

Sheet metal worker Percy Moyer said Wednesday he has been working 10-hour days, seven days a week. He said the electricians have been pulling similar shifts.

On Friday, the day before the workers were burned in an electrical accident, a new foreman from Electromation was brought in, Moyer said.

He said the previous Electromation foreman had the electricians working with the power off as they pulled wire into the room where the fire occurred.

Moyer, who works for Morris Sheet Metal, recalls the new foreman calling his workers derogatory names and saying "I can't believe they've been shutting the power off on you guys all week. We're going to pull the wire live tomorrow."

Repeated attempts to contact Electromation owner Larry Coffey on Wednesday for comment on these statements were unsuccessful. The contractor is based in Muncie.

Paul Gratti, the field superintendent for the general contractor on the site, LaSalle General Contractors, was not on the construction site Wednesday to take questions about the progress of the work or the conditions that led to the fire. Calls to his cell phone went unanswered, and messages left on the phone were not returned.

One project running behind was the store's refrigeration unit, scheduled to come online Sept. 18, Moyer said.

Robert Eury, 29, of Bloomington, Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein and Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson were severely burned by a fireball Saturday when something fell into the live electrical panel on which they were working in the switchgear room.

Moyer said the men were working with a machine called a tugger that is about 4 feet tall. It is an L-shaped support that uses pulleys â¬" about 1 foot in diameter â¬" to pull wire through metal conduits and into the room, which is 6-by-25 feet, with ceilings roughly 9 feet high. Several conduits feed into its metal ceiling.

"They never had it secured," Moyer said. "There were two guys standing along it to hold it still. It got snagged and it pulled into the switchgear room and caused the explosion."

The new Electromation foreman, who would not give his name, said Monday that he wasn't sure if the men were wearing protective equipment Saturday but that all protective measures were in use.

"They didn't have hard hats on. They didn't have any safety gear here at all," Moyer said. He said that includes things such as rubber mats, fireproof suits, face shields and rubber gloves.

About a month ago, Eury was employed at A-1 Elect-Ricks Inc. of Bloomington, according to that company's co-owner Rick Crouch. He said Eury, like other A-1 employees, completed at least two eight-hour classes through the federal mine safety agency.

Crouch said worker safety "is a very serious thing," whether a worker is a union member or not.

He said it is up to the employer to make sure workers feel comfortable making safety requests. Without that comfort, workers might be afraid they will be chastised.

Crouch, who is an electrician, said he has performed tasks similar to the one the men were doing Saturday. But he never did them "hot," or with the power on.

Eury and Abbott remained in critical condition in the Wishard Hospital burn unit Wednesday. Shelton was in critical condition in the burn unit at Riley Hospital for Children.

Fundraiser to help Eury

Richard Eury's Bloomington roommate, Trevor Charles, is organizing a benefit concert to help defray some of Eury's medical costs as well as other bills. He plans to put all money into an escrow account.

He started a myspace.com group, "Frynds of Robert Eury Benefit," and is contacting bands to play songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, one of Eury's favorite bands, at the concert. It is tentatively set for early November.

Friday

Group petitions Sodrel on affordable health care

by Steve Hinnefeld
331-4374 | shinnefeld@heraldt.com
September 1, 2006

A half-dozen health-care advocates delivered petitions Thursday to the Bloomington office of U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, calling on Congress to take steps to make affordable care available to all Americans.

"We feel health care's a right, not a privilege," said Jason Carnes, who works for Area 10 Agency on Aging.

The drive was organized by the local office of Communities United to Strengthen America, a nonprofit group that works on economic-security issues. The petitions were signed by 154 people, said Leslie Cannon, Communities United spokeswoman.

The group said 395,000 Indiana residents, about 14 percent of the work force, are employed but lack health insurance.

Carnes said he often hears from uninsured people who aren't old enough to qualify for Medicare or who can't afford drug costs despite being covered by the Medicare prescription program.

And Cannon said the group is concerned about working people who make too much money for Medicaid - the government health-care program for the poor - but lack insurance.

Tom Szymanski, an organizer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said electricians who were severely burned Saturday in an accident at the Wal-Mart Supercenter didn't have coverage because they were temporary workers.

Sodrel aide Chris Crabtree promised a response from the congressman. Cannon said Communities United will post the response on its Web site: www.communities-united.org, click on "get local" and "Bloomington."

SATURDAY

Electromation accuses union of exploiting electrical accident
Union says electrical burning accident at Wal-Mart site was preventable

by Emily Thickstun
331-4363 | ethickstun@heraldt.com
September 9, 2006

Electromation Inc., the company that employs the three men burned in a job accident at the Wal-Mart site, said Friday that a union representative is using a tragic accident to promote union membership.

Company president Larry Coffey said in a written statement that Todd Thacker of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 725 made statements to the media that are untrue.

Coffey said the three workers injured in an electrical flash fire Aug. 26 at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter have many years of electrical experience.

Robert Eury, 29, of Bloomington, Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein and Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson were severely burned when something dropped into the live electrical panel on which they were working, causing a fireball.

They were all listed in critical condition Friday in the Wishard Hospital burn unit.

In an Aug. 30 Herald-Times article, Thacker challenged Muncie-based Electromation to prove its workers are qualified to do electrical work.

"We would hope Electromation would stop trying to avoid the issue and start addressing safety and concern for their workers," the union said.

The accident is being investigated by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It is unclear what safety equipment the men had.

Coffey said comments made by Thacker were promoting union over nonunion workers and showed disrespect for the injured men and their families.

Coffey said he hasn't commented until now out of respect for the employees and their families.

"(Thacker) has made statements regarding their qualifications and training that are totally without basis," Coffey said.

He said Abbott had prior experience with installing electrical systems at Wal-Marts. Further, he said the Aug. 26 fire was a tragic accident and attention should be focused on hope for the workers' speedy recovery.

"Accidents such as this type do occur with well-qualified and trained electricians every day regardless of union affiliation," Coffey said.

"Unless there is a life-threatening situation, workers should never be working on an energized system, especially high voltage," it said.

The Steven Abbott Family Fund Farmers and Merchant Bank 302 S. Old U.S. 41 Boswell, IN 47921

The Steven "Scotty" Shelton Fund At any National City Bank branch or by mail: Steven "Scotty" Shelton Fund, c/o National City Bank Anderson North 1934 Broadway Anderson, IN 46012.

A representative of Shelton’s estate and Abbott have filed lawsuits against Wal-Mart, contractor LaSalle Group Inc. and Duke Energy Indiana.

January 12, 2007

Company blames burned worker
Electrical company agreed last month to pay $6,000 for safety violations in fatal Wal-Mart incident

By Emily Thickstun

Steve Abbott, one of the men burned in an electrical accident at the Wal-Mart Supercenter construction site in August, is being blamed by his employer, which says he made the decision that led to the accident.

In documents obtained Thursday by The Herald-Times, Electromation Inc. of Muncie said Abbott, a journeyman electrician, “made an independent decision without consulting either the project manager, Casey Sheppard, or the field superintendent, Shayne Branham, to remove a breaker and work on the energized circuit.”

The documents include a settlement agreement and Electromation’s response to the state’s accident investigation. The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration provided the documents in response to a public-records request.

In its response, the company also maintained that workers had proper safety equipment and training.

Electromation agreed last month to pay $6,000, reduced from $15,000, for safety violations cited during an inspection of the site after the accident.

The accident occurred Aug. 26 on the construction site of the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Bloomington’s west side. The men were pulling wire into a room at the rear of the store when something caused a piece of metal to come into contact with the live electrical panel and ignited a flash fire.

Three Electromation workers were severely burned, and one later died from his injuries.

Workers recalled events differently

Some statements from workers at the site in the days following the accident are at odds with the company’s response to IOSHA.

On Aug. 30, Percy Moyer of Morris Sheet Metal told The Herald-Times that the new supervisor, Branham, called his workers derogatory names, and Moyer recalled Branham as saying the day before the accident that “I can’t believe they’ve been shutting the power off on you guys (sheet metal workers) all week. We’re going to pull the (expletive) wire live tomorrow.”

The previous foreman, Ron Fehrenbach, quit Aug. 25, and Branham succeeded him, Moyer said.

Moyer also said the workers were being rushed because the project was a month behind schedule, and that the men didn’t have proper protective gear.

“They didn’t have hard hats on. They didn’t have any safety gear here at all,” he said.

Moyer said there wasn’t a procedure for turning the power on and off, commonly known as “lockout, tagout.”

“No one knew when the switchgear was hot or when it wasn’t hot,” he said.

On Aug. 28, Branham was asked at the site if the men had been wearing protective equipment. He said he wasn’t sure. He also said he didn’t know of any rules about the power being on or off.

But the company included in its response to IOSHA a letter signed by Branham stating, “our crew was following standard electrical safety precautions as required; hard hats, safety glasses and work boots were being worn.”

Sheppard signed a similar letter. Reached by phone Thursday, he confirmed that he, too, was injured in the accident, but he wouldn’t comment on the extent of his injuries or any other details of the case.

The Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board issued a report that said Sheppard received multiple burns along with the three other men. A spokesman for Wishard Hospital, where the other men were taken, said the hospital has no record of Sheppard being admitted.

IOSHA conducted the site inspection and issued a safety order and fines. The order listed six serious violations and ordered a fine of $2,500 per violation.

In an informal conference after the order was issued, Electromation responded to the alleged violations, disagreeing with each of them. IOSHA and Electromation then reached a settlement agreement last month that deleted two penalties and upheld the rest. The fine was reduced to $6,000, due in three monthly installments.

The agreement stipulates that the company won’t contest the matter further.

Lawsuits pending

One of the workers, Steven “Scotty” Shelton, died Oct. 13 from his injuries. A representative of the Shelton family filed a lawsuit in Monroe County against Wal-Mart, Duke Energy Indiana and general contractor LaSalle Group Inc.

Abbott is in good condition in the burn unit at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. The Abbott family’s attorney, John Boren of Martinsville, said he didn’t have a comment because Electromation isn’t named in his lawsuit. It also names Wal-Mart, Duke Energy and LaSalle.

Boren said LaSalle agreed Thursday to act as Wal-Mart’s defense at trial.

The other injured worker, Robert Eury of Bloomington, is in good condition in Wishard’s rehabilitation facility.

January 12, 2007

IOSHA citations and company’s response

Here are the six violations cited by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration in its investigation of the Wal-Mart accident, followed by the response of Electromation.

•Item 1: IOSHA said the company should have had its electricians working on de-energized circuits.

Electromation responded that worker Steve Abbott made the decision without supervisor knowledge or consent. It also said the general contractor, LaSalle Group Inc., and subcontractors had complained about electricity being shut off as the electricians pulled wire into the switchgear room at the rear of the store. LaSalle had set up generators to power other areas of the job site.

Result: Item upheld, fine reduced to $2,000.

•Item 2: IOSHA said Electromation didn’t properly instruct its employees in how to avoid unsafe conditions.

Electromation said all of its new hires are given safety orientation, and safety talks are given on all job sites. Records of attendance at these talks aren’t available, the company said, because “they seemed to disappear” after “disgruntled foreman, Ron Fehrenbach” quit the company just before the accident.

Result: Item upheld, fine reduced to $2,000.

•Item 3: IOSHA said employees weren’t wearing or using hard hats or protective glasses.

Electromation provided letters from supervisor Shayne Branham and project manager Casey Sheppard saying the men were wearing such safety equipment.

Result: Deleted. Fine reduced to $0.

•Item 4: The safety order said Electromation failed to clearly mark entrances to hazardous areas, and an unqualified employee was watching the process.

Electromation said the room where the accident occurred was clearly marked with the same signs used in other Wal-Mart construction sites. It provided IOSHA with a photo of a sign. Electromation said it isn’t aware of any unqualified workers being near the energized equipment.

Result: Deleted. Fine reduced to $0.

•Item 5: IOSHA said switchboards with exposed live parts weren’t in dry locations accessible only to qualified people. It said the equipment was covered with a piece of cardboard.

Electromation responded that the equipment was in a dry location, secured with locks for which only three people had keys. Those people are LaSalle superintendent Paul Gratti, Gratti’s assistant and the “electrical job foreman,” believed to be Branham.

It said the room was locked before the fire, but unlocked afterward.

“The general contractor did not secure the doors even though LaSalle had the ability to do so,” the response states.

One worker at the site Aug. 28 said he had gone in the room and described it as black, as if there had been an explosion.

Result: Penalty upheld, grouped with Item 6 and fine reduced to $2,000.

• Item 6: IOSHA said Electromation didn’t ensure worker safety by examining the possibility that any part of an energized circuit could bring a person, tool or machine into contact with the circuit.

Electromation said Sheppard testified that the site was secure and de-energized at the start of the work day.

“Rather, it was well into the work day, that due to an unforeseen random act by another journeyman electrician that a risk of exposure to an energized circuit was created by the removal of a breaker by that foreman,” the company said.

Result: Combined with Item 5.

Investigators say fines and penalties not always in proportion to damage done
By Emily Thickstun

As far as investigations go, the 5-inch-thick Electromation file looks pretty standard to Jeff Carter, deputy commissioner of the Indiana Department of Labor.

It contains a narrative written by field inspector Raymond Parks, photographs from the scene, correspondence between IOSHA and Electromation, witness statements and other documents. Indiana OSHA, part of the state Department of Labor, investigates workplace accidents.

Two days after the electrical fire at Wal-Mart in Bloomington, Parks and inspector Gary Cahill visited the site to begin their investigation.

“We then went out to the site where the accident took place,” Parks wrote in his inspection narrative.

“The entire area was charred and the metal bus bars were vaporized. We interviewed the employee, Mr. Craig Dodds, that was treated at the scene for his injuries. He stated that he was in the doorway ... when the arc flash took place. He showed us where the other workers were at when the flash happened. I took several digital photos.”

The photos and Dodds’ hand-drawn schematic of where the five men were standing are included in documents obtained by The Herald-Times through a public records request.

Parks’ report continues: “This crew had just been on the job a couple of days. The crew that had been pulling wire ... prior to the new crew arriving ... would always cut the power. ... There were 5 portable generators ... The new crew reportedly stated ‘we worked hot at the stores in Fort Wayne, Anderson and Muncie and we will work it hot here.’”

When Parks and Cahill returned to the site two days later, Aug. 30, Electromation President Larry Coffey was present. He “stated he did not know they were working with the power still on.”

That day, Parks requested a list of documents and records as part of the investigation. He would later write in the report that it took a long time to receive all of the requested documents from Electromation.

Three months later, on Nov. 1, Parks and Cahill traveled to Muncie to meet Coffey at his attorney’s office to close the inspection. Parks writes that he explained the alleged violations to Coffey. “He showed little remorse and seemed to be more upset that the General Contractor was not cited. ... Mr. Coffey wanted to argue about the alleged violations,” but his attorney stopped him.

There were 148 people who died on the job last year, Carter said. Some were work-related deaths, some were natural causes.

His predecessor dealt with the Electromation case, but Carter said he has seen situations like this before, where there is pressure to keep the power turned on at a job site. Witness statements refer to the tension among subcontractors, shown in these words from Casey Sheppard:

“(Field Superintendent Paul Gratti) stated that I was going to have to do something about the wire pulling. He stated he was tired of renting generators because we shut the power off to pull wire. ... One of the metal workers was throwing a fit because he didn’t have power and he was going to backcharge us.”

Another written statement in the IOSHA file came from Ronald Fehrenbach. He led a crew of workers who started pulling wire Aug. 21.

He recounted making the different trades at the site aware of when the power would be turned off and on each day.

He also wrote about safety concerns: “I felt that a warning needed to go out to all whom concerned.”

Mike Miller of Lasalle General Contractor and “Monroe County Bldg. inspector David Smith both were made aware of my concerns about safety and methodology.”

Standard procedure

It is standard procedure for the Department of Labor to issue safety orders and levy fines on companies it believes are at fault.

In the Electromation case, the initial safety order listed six “serious” violations, with a fine of $15,000. In the end, three charges were retained, with a total fine of $6,000. That amount is in the middle of the bell curve plotting accidents involving deaths, he said.

Carter said there are several possibilities for the fine reduction, but because he wasn’t part of this case he doesn’t know what actually transpired. He said it is possible that the employer can have fines lowered by investing money in training or other improvement programs. This could lower fines or change violations from serious to nonserious.

“Sending me money isn’t going to help workers,” Carter said, but investing in safety training can show a commitment to fixing problems.

Also, Carter said there are occasions where the state doesn’t think a violation would stand up in court.

The inspector might not be sure the employer was at fault, and it isn’t always ideal to leave it up to a judge to decide.

But at the same time, Carter recounted talking to the family of someone who has died on the job and feeling embarrassed and saddened at the paltry fine being levied on the employer.

Regardless, sometimes the facts of the case leave Carter wondering how we could’ve come so far with technology yet still have preventable accidents.

“You look at them and shake your head,” he said. “Working on those things hot was a major, major piece of bad judgment.”

The documents obtained from IOSHA through a public records request refer to long lag times where the department was waiting for Electromation to send certain items, such as safety procedures and training logs.

Carter said this is also common, as companies can be “very fearful of where documents will end up.”

Some companies send more than they need to, while others “are not the most responsive.”

Electromation supplied many pages of training logs and safety-meeting records to the state. Those documents might have played a role in how the violations played out. But will they make workers safer?

“Everybody thinks they have a great safety program,” Carter said. “The proof comes when people go home at night.”

Aug. 26, 2006 — Steve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein, Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson, and Robert Eury of Bloomington are injured by an electrical flash fire inside a small switchgear room inside the Wal-Mart Supercenter. All three are employees of Electromation of Muncie.

Aug. 28, 2006 — Indiana Department of Labor, IOSHA inspectors begin investigation at Wal-Mart construction site.

Oct. 6, 2006 — Abbott and his wife, Stephanie, sue Wal-Mart, Duke Energy and general contractor LaSalle Group.

Oct. 13, 2006 — Shelton dies at Indianapolis’ Wishard Hospital of complications from injuries suffered in the incident.

Oct. 17, 2006 — Shelton’s funeral is held in Trinity, Ala., where his family lives.

Nov. 1, 2006 — First Merchants Trust Co. sues Wal-Mart, Duke Energy and general contractor LaSalle Group on Shelton’s behalf.

Nov. 11, 2006 — Indiana Department of Labor issues safety order, listing six “serious” violations and fining Electromation $15,000.

Dec. 1, 2006 — Informal conference between Electromation and Indiana Department of Labor to discuss safety order.

Dec. 18, 2006 — Electromation and Indiana Department of Labor reach settlement agreement. Three items are dropped, fine is reduced to $6,000, to be paid in three $2,000 installments.

Jan. 11, 2007 — Electromation says Abbott made the decision to work on a live electrical panel.

Jan. 19, 2007 — Eury sues Wal-Mart, Duke Energy and general contractor LaSalle Group.

Feb. 12, 2007 — Monroe Circuit Judge Steve Galvin grants an unopposed motion to consolidate similar actions between the civil cases.