WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM — 1996-04-29 00:00:00

OSHA Inspection: APPLIED RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (ARA)

Accident-driven inspection · Safety discipline

At a glance

On 1996-04-29 00:00:00, OSHA opened an accident-driven safety inspection of APPLIED RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (ARA) in WHITE SANDS NORTH RANGE, WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM 88002 (NAICS 000000). OSHA activity number 103624532.

What this inspection record means

OSHA opens inspections for many reasons — routine scheduling under a national or local emphasis program, an employee complaint or referral, or a follow-up after a reported injury. Opening or conducting an inspection is not itself an allegation or a finding that this employer broke any rule; any findings appear as the citations listed below, and citations can be contested, reduced, or withdrawn.

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Where did this inspection happen?

Establishment: APPLIED RESEARCH ASSOCIATES (ARA)
Site address: WHITE SANDS NORTH RANGE
City: WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE
State: NM
ZIP: 88002

What kind of inspection was it?

Inspection type: Accident-driven (A)
Scope: Partial (B)
Discipline: Safety
Advance notice: Yes
Union status: N

When did the case open and close?

Opened: 1996-04-29 00:00:00
Closing conference: 1996-07-17 00:00:00
Case closed: 1996-12-05 00:00:00
Data loaded: 2011-10-14 16:38:47

Establishment context

NAICS code: 000000
SIC code (legacy): 8731
Employees: 31
Ownership type: A

Citations

6 citations on file for this inspection.

1910.132 D02

Serious Gravity 10 1 instance 3 exposed

Issued: Sep 18, 1996
Abate by: Oct 28, 1996
Penalty: Initial $6,300 · Current $6,300

1910.212 A01

Serious Gravity 03 1 instance 31 exposed

Issued: Sep 18, 1996
Abate by: Oct 28, 1996
Penalty: Initial $2,362 · Current $400 Reduced

Recent events (2)

1996-10-15 00:00:00 — I (S) $400.00
1996-09-18 00:00:00 — Z (S) $2362.00

5(a)(1)

Serious Gravity 10 1 instance 3 exposed

Issued: Sep 18, 1996
Abate by: Oct 28, 1996
Penalty: Initial $6,300 · Current $6,300

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The
employer did not furnish
employment and a place of employment which were not free from recognized
hazards that were
causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in
that employees were
exposed to:
White Sands Missile Range, Permanent High Explosives Test Site (PHETS)
located 13
miles South of Stallion.  On April 24, 1996 an accident occurred in which
an overloaded
Bobcat tipped forward catching two ARA employees between the bucket and
the floor
of the building in which they were working.  This accident claimed one
employee's life
and seriously injured the other.  The operations part of this Dipole Orbit
test, involved
placing a BLU-109A/B 2000 pound bomb, a class A explosive, beneath the
floor of a
specially constructed building and then detonating it.  This was a major
change in the
Dipole Orbit test protocol as the BLU-109A/B 2000 pound bomb originally
was
to have
been air dropped and not placed beneath the floor and detonated.  ARA had
provided a
detailed Safety Standing Operating Procedure (SSOP) which was approved on
27
November 1995 for an earlier Dipole Orbit test. There was no mention of
using a Bobcat
to position the BLU-109A/B 2000 pound bomb in the approved SSOP.  The
Bobcat was
operated by another contractor's employee.  None of this contractor's
personnel were on
the list of personnel approved to handle the bomb.  Section 2.3 of the ARA
Standard
Operating Procedures and Safety Plan deals with explosives safety.  ARA
failed to follow
paragraph 2.3.1.1 of this plan, which required a detailed Safety Standard
Operating
Procedure for each explosive operation including the handling of
munitions.  ARA was
working for Field Command Defense Nuclear Agency (FCDNA) under contract
DNA001-93-C-0147, Field Test Support.  Technical Instruction (TI) 2.30/00
paragraph
3.0 required the contractor (ARA) to provide an approved technical
instruction
before
performing any specific task.  Had the above requirements been followed
this should
have prevented the April 24, 1996 accident.  One feasible method of
abatement would
be for ARA to follow their own and FCDNA directives.

1910.146 C04

Other-than-serious Gravity 01 1 instance 3 exposed

Issued: Sep 18, 1996
Abate by: Oct 28, 1996

1910.1030 C01 I

Other-than-serious Gravity 01 1 instance 31 exposed

Issued: Sep 18, 1996
Abate by: Oct 28, 1996

5(a)(1)

Deleted Willful Gravity 10 1 instance 3 exposed

Issued: Sep 18, 1996
Abate by: Oct 28, 1996
Penalty: Initial $63,000

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The
employer did not furnish
employment and a place of employment which were not free from recognized
hazards that were
causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in
that employees were
exposed to:
White Sands Missile Range, Permanent High Explosives Test Site (PHETS)
located 13
miles South of Stallion.  On April 24, 1996 an accident occurred in which
an overloaded
Bobcat tipped forward catching two ARA employees between the bucket and
the floor
of the building in which they were working.  This accident claimed one
employee's life
and seriously injured the other.  The operations part of this Dipole Orbit
test, involved
placing a BLU-109A/B 2000 pound bomb, a class A explosive, beneath the
floor of a
specially constructed building and then detonating it.  This was a major
change in the
Dipole Orbit test protocol as the BLU-109A/B 2000 pound bomb originally
was to have
been air dropped and not placed beneath the floor and detonated.  ARA had
provided a
detailed Safety Standing Operating Procedure (SSOP) which was approved on
27
November 1995 for an earlier Dipole Orbit test. There was no mention of
using a Bobcat
to position the BLU-109A/B 2000 pound bomb in the approved SSOP.  The
Bobcat was
operated by another contractor's employee.  None of this contractor's
personnel were on
the list of personnel approved to handle the bomb.  Section 2.3 of the ARA
Standard
Operating Procedures and Safety Plan deals with explosives safety.  ARA
failed to follow
paragraph 2.3.1.1 of this plan, which required a detailed Safety Standard
Operating
Procedure for each explosive operation including the handling of
munitions.  ARA was
working for Field Command Defense Nuclear Agency (FCDNA) under contract
DNA001-93-C-0147, Field Test Support.  Technical Instruction (TI) 2.30/00
paragraph
3.0 required the contractor (ARA) to provide an approved technical
instruction before
performing any specific task.  Had the above requirements been followed
this should
have prevented the April 24, 1996 accident.  One feasible method of
abatement would
be for ARA to follow their own and FCDNA directives.

Recent events (2)

1996-10-17 00:00:00 — I (W)
1996-09-18 00:00:00 — Z (W) $63000.00

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Source

This record is reproduced from the U.S. Department of Labor Open Data API (OSHA inspection dataset). The original IMIS detail view is available at OSHA's Establishment Search for activity number 103624532.

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