Commission Issues Decision in First Marine, LLC, OSHRC Docket Nos. 18-1287 & 18-1288

First Marine, LLC owns and operates a shipyard in Calvert City, Kentucky. Following a fatal explosion at the shipyard, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an inspection and issued First Marine five citations. Two of the citations alleged a total of eighteen safety violations (No. 18-1287) and the remaining three citations alleged a total of seventeen health violations (No. 18-1288). The parties settled all but four serious safety violations, five serious health violations, and three willful health violations. The settled items were severed from each case (No. 20-0178) and the remaining items were consolidated for hearing and disposition. Following a hearing, Administrative Law Judge John B. Gatto vacated the four remaining safety violations, vacated six of the health violations, and affirmed the two remaining health violations, characterizing one as serious and one as willful. The only citation item at issue on review is the willful health violation (Citation 2, Item 2 (No. 18-1288)), which alleges that First Marine failed to “ensure that each employee that enters a confined or enclosed space and other areas with dangerous atmospheres is trained to perform all required duties safely.” 29 C.F.R. § 1915.12(d)(1). For the following reasons, we affirm the violation and recharacterize it as serious.