Explosions at Resort Lead to Willful and Serious Safety Citations

Explosions at a resort in Washington State caused two workers to be hospitalized with burns—one of them for more than a month, and citations for multiple willful and serious workplace safety violations issued by the State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). 

The incidents reportedly occurred while workers were inspecting an 18,000-gallon underground propane tank to determine if it could be put back into use. The cause is believed to be a vaporizer clicking on after gas released from cut-open piping in the tank system. 



State compliance officers investigated the company and alleged 2 willful serious, 3 serious, and one general violation. The citations largely relate to work performed in confined spaces where hazardous vapors, gases, or atmospheres may be present. 

Specifically, regulators alleged that the company failed to:

• Ensure the testing or evaluation of confined space conditions for safe entry to determine that acceptable entry conditions were being maintained during entry operations.

• Ensure all sources of ignition were either eliminated or controlled while work was conducted in the propane tank storage area 
• Provide, maintain and use proper atmospheric testing and ventilation equipment 
• Ensure proper training for personnel performing installation, removal, operation, and maintenance 
• Have a written confined space program that included ways on how to identify and evaluate hazards, how to prevent unauthorized entry, and how to coordinate entry with another employer.
• Have employee training records to certify proficiency for confined space work.

The company faces $166,423 in penalties for the alleged violations.

Tags: workplace safety