OSHA Fines Ohio Shipyard Citing Numerous Violations in March 2024 Fire

Federal safety inspectors reported that they found a long list of violations during an inspection of an Ohio shipyard after a March 2024 fire aboard a Laker that was being prepared for the summer season. In a statement, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contends it was timing and luck that narrowly avoided disaster after a large fire erupted aboard the Cuyahoga, an 81-year-old vessel that is Canada’s oldest vessel on the Great Lakes.

Cuyahoga was still in its winter lay-up when a fire broke out on March 15 while work was underway at the shipyard in Ashtabula, Ohio. The U.S. Coast Guard was involved in the response along with fire departments from the city and country. The crew was all evacuated without injury.

U.S. Coast Guard is investigating, as is the National Transportation Safety Board, but USCG also referred it to OSHA. In a statement, OSHA reports it determined the fire began while a worker used welding equipment to remove paint in the vessel’s hold. They said that the timing was such that many crewmembers, who had been working below the cargo hold, were on lunch break at the time and avoided the danger of the fire trapping them below decks. OSHA however cited numerous safety violations.

“Fate, not South Marine Systems, helped the cargo vessel’s crew avoid disaster. The company’s failure to comply with basic safety requirements for welding operations and working in confined spaces exposed workers to fires, asphyxiation, and other dangers,” explained OSHA Area Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland.

OSHA cited the company for 15 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation and proposed $164,540 in penalties.

OSHA found the South Marine Systems of Westlake did not designate a competent person able to identify hazards, nor had a marine chemist present to test for hazardous atmospheres before welding started. They also determined South Marine Systems did not stop work when small fires began to assess hazardous conditions and risks. 

Among the violations they cited was a lack of a fire response organization, a lack of providing the crew with self-contained breathing apparatus, not providing a large fire hose, and not training fire watch employees on the very basics of fire fighting. They said the materials were not tested for flammability and nothing was done to ensure the Chinese-speaking employee performing the hot work could communicate with the Spanish-speaking employee conducting the fire watch.

“South Marine Systems must review its training program and its work operations immediately to make certain everyone on their work crews can recognize hazards and safely respond to emergencies,”  OSHA writes in its assessment.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The Ashtabula Fire Department ruled during the summer that the fire was accidental. However, it may well have brought to an end the career of the vessel. The vessel’s AIS signal has been turned off.