On January 14, 2014, an injury to an employee of American Integrated Services (AIS), a contractor for the PRP, occured.  While directing the excavator conducting demolition operations, the employee accidentally stepped into one of the containment pits located on the south side of the building. the employee partially fell into the pit and was exposured to contaminated water.   Work activities were immediately stopped and underwent emergency decontamination.  The employee did not sustain any visible injuries, but at the direction of the EPA START contractor conducting oversight was sent to a local urgent care for medical evaluation.

The pits in the area where this incident occurred have been previously identified as a potential hazard.  Rainwater as well as water from demolition activities accumulates on the concrete floor causing a slip hazard and, as is the case here, obscuring the containment pits.  The water in the pits is primarily rainwater or possibly accumulated dust suppression water.  Accumulated water in this area is not likely to be plating shop process water or to contain significant contaminants although a sample was collected from the pit where the incident occurred and submitted for laboratory analysis.  Results of this analysis are not available at this time.

Specific precautions for walking and working in this area of the job site have been addressed during the daily safety briefings held every morning and work activities are not typically conducted in the area of these containment pits.  Once the incident was completed and before work activities were resumed, workers were reminded again about the potential hazards of working in this area and about the need to be careful when walking  through the debris on the ground.  Going forward, the following procedures will be implemented to prevent this type of incident from re-occurring:

• Where possible, all dust suppression and other support activities will be conducted from outside the building (although this may not be possible for work activities on the north side of the building)
• If workers do need to enter the interior of the building for any purpose (even when walking through areas where work is not actively conducted, they will wear tyvek suits and full-face respirators
• Pits, sumps, containment areas and other similar hazards will be flagged or marked.  As debris is removed and new pits or sumps are found, they will also be flagged or identified
• Workers will be instructed to follow specific paths into and out of the work area in order to avoid pits and similar hazards
• If workers need to go into an area off of the specific paths, they will be instructed to double check all walking areas, especially any areas with accumulated water on the surface.