Textron Aviation cited for failing to protect employees in December explosion
Officials at Textron Aviation failed to protect employees when a liquid nitrogen explosion injured around 15 workers last year, according to a federal citation issued this month.
The violation could cost Textron a penalty of $13,494, according to the citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, an arm of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Textron didn’t provide a workplace free from “recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees,” the citation reads. Because of the explosion, workers at Textron were exposed to “amputation, broken bone, concussion, crushing, laceration, and struck-by hazards,” OSHA said.
On Dec. 27, 2019, a 3-inch liquid nitrogen line ruptured, causing the explosion that critically injured 15 people inside Plant 3 at the manufacturing facility on Webb Road.
“One of the benefits is the plant was closed, or shutdown, for the holiday season, so the numbers that would have been here were not. So it was a skeleton crew,” Sedgwick County Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Wegner said previously.
Nearby neighbors reported feeling the impact of the blast at the time.
To correct the hazard, OSHA said Textron officials can implement measures to monitor and repair pressure vessels, among other methods.
Were you impacted by the liquid nitrogen explosion or other workplace safety hazards in the Wichita area? You can reach reporter Megan Stringer at mstringer@wichitaeagle.com and 316-347-7442.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
