Julie Su Acting United States Secretary of Labor | Official Website
Federal safety inspectors found a crew working aboard the Cuyahoga, a commercial iron ore vessel moored at the Port of Ashtabula, narrowly avoided disaster after a large fire erupted as they welded off paint in a cargo hold, an incident their employer could have avoided by following U.S. Department of Labor safety regulations.
Acting on a referral from the U.S. Coast Guard, inspectors with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the fire began while a worker used welding equipment to remove paint in the vessel’s hold in March 2024. Many crewmembers, who had been working below the cargo hold, were on lunch break at the time and avoided the danger of being trapped below decks.
OSHA found that 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.
“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. “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 has cited the company for 15 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation and proposed $164,540 in penalties.
Specifically, the agency found South Marine Systems failed to do the following:
- Determine flammability of the preservative coating on the bulkhead before hot work.
- Provide a 1-1/2 inch or larger fire hose with fog nozzle while employees used a welder to remove Amerthane 490 off the bulkhead.
- Provide workers with a ladder to exit the water if they fell in.
- Develop a fire safety plan.
- Establish an internal and external fire response organization.
- Ensure communication between Chinese-speaking employees performing hot work activities and Spanish-speaking employees conducting fire watch.
- Verify employees received medical examinations for duties involving fighting fires.
- Provide self-contained breathing apparatuses for workers exposed to asphyxiation hazards.
- Train fire watch employees on basic elements of fighting fires.
- Provide OSHA 300 Logs and Summary Form 300As for 2021–2023.
The USCG and National Transportation Safety Board have opened separate investigations into this incident.
Based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, South Marine Systems LLC has offices in Westlake, Ohio.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Learn more about OSHA.
