TVA, contractors fined after worker electrocuted at Bull Run power plant

Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
·2 min read

Apr. 1—The Tennessee Valley Authority and two of its contractors are facing penalties for inadequate safety equipment and procedures at the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Clinton, Tennessee, where a contract worker was electrocuted last year.

The Department of Labor charged TVA with one serious violation and cited two contractors with willful and serious violations of labor safety standards after investigating the death of a 29-year-old industrial insulation installer who fell 5 feet through the top of a metal electrical equipment compartment and made contact with the energized electrical equipment.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration found Williams Specialty Services, GUBMK Constructors and TVA exposed workers to fall and electrocution hazards.

The agency found the three did not determine whether the walking and working surfaces had the strength and structural integrity to support workers safely. The agency also found Williams Specialty failed to provide safe access to elevated platforms and failed to initiate and maintain programs that provide frequent and regular inspections by a competent person of the equipment and job site.

"Had the employer identified and mitigated safety hazards at the worksite as required, this tragedy could have been prevented," OSHA Area Director William Cochran in Nashville, said in a statement released with the safety agency's findings. "Employers are legally and morally obligated to provide their workers a work environment where their safety is not in jeopardy."

William Specialty Services was cited for one willful and two serious violations with a penalty of $152,900; GUBMK Constructors was charged with one serious violation and $14,502 in fines; and TVA was cited for one serious notice and received no fine.

Those cited have 15 business days from the notice to appeal the fines. TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the OSHA investigation findings "are consistent with TVA's own investigation, and we take them very seriously. TVA considers safety to be a core value and our overriding priority, and we did not meet that standard."

Hopson said TVA's overall safety record at its power plants has been in the top quartile of all utilities for the past several years, "but the tragic Bull Run incident certainly is on the minds of every TVA employee."

Hopson said Seth Black, the Williams Specialty Services contractor at Bull Run Fossil Plant, died on Sept 16, 2021, when he fell through a precipitator insulator box and came into contact with an energized electrical circuit.

"Our continued thoughts and support are with his family and colleagues who were impacted by this tragic event," Hopson said. "We took immediate steps to prevent a recurrence following the event and have incorporated lessons learned into our work planning processes and facilities to prevent a similar incident in the future."

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter @dflessner1.