(General Dynamics)
The federal workplace safety regulator has fined $156,700 to a General Dynamics facility in Hampton following an explosion there last year that killed one employee and injured two others.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website, the three employees “were inserting smoke composition material into aluminum pyrotechnic vessels when an explosion occurred” just after 8 a.m. on July 3, 2024.
General Dynamics operates a military munitions factory in 880,000 square feet of space just outside of Camden, where it manufactures weapons such as the Hydra-70 rocket and the Hellfire and Javelin missiles.
OSHA opened an investigation the same day, and issued 12 citations against the company for violations of federal worker safety regulations earlier this year. Eight of those 12 resulted in a $16,131 fine each, near the maximum. The other four resulted in $6,913 fines, each.
General Dynamics is contesting OSHA’s findings, according to the website. A spokesperson for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems did not return a phone call requesting comment. An individual at the Little Rock OSHA office said the agency did not discuss open or closed cases, and that any additional information would require a FOIA request.
The notes included with one of the citations indicated that OSHA believed General Dynamics had not been updating operating procedures to reflect “current operating practice.”
The notes also said that in a section about “‘Automated Smoke Tube Loading’… the employer did not list isopropyl alcohol in this section. However, employees used isopropyl alcohol for cleaning purposes.”
Another citation’s notes said that General Dynamics did not account for how smoke power would react to heat, static electricity, impact, or other outside forces in its hazard analysis, nor did it have written procedures for managing changes in the smoke powder’s formulation.
According to a safety worksheet published by New Jersey’s Department of Health, isopropyl alcohol forms explosive mixtures with aluminum when heated and is also not compatible with oxidizing agents such as perchlorate.
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