Today’s post was shared by Gelman on Workplace Injuries and comes from ehstoday.com. Mr. Jon Gelman is a respected colleague who focuses on workers’ compensation in New Jersey.
As the post points out, it is unusual, but not unheard of, for an employer to be charged and sentenced for Occupational Safety and Health Act violations. In fact, in 2012, I wrote about a situation that happened at a Nebraska grain elevator that caused a worker’s death and resulted in a misdemeanor charge, including a $100,000 fine and 2 years of probation for the employer.
The article below is important for a number of reasons. First, two truck drivers, Joey Sutter and Charles Sittig, died as a result of chemical exposure to hydrogen sulfide through their work. Next, the company’s former president, Matthew Lawrence Bowman, was sentenced to serve 12 months in federal prison and also fined $5,000, according to the article. As president of his company, Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services LLC (PACES) of Port Arthur, Texas, Bowman even directed some of the violations. And these actions were “criminally negligent,” according to John M. Bales, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.
Although no amount of prison time or fines can bring the drivers back to their loved ones, it is good to see someone being held at least a little bit accountable for the dangers of this company’s practices.
Matthew Lawrence Bowman, the former president of Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services LLC (PACES) finally had his (sentencing) day in court. Bowman pleaded guilty on May 9 to violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). It is rare for individuals to be prosecuted and sentenced to violations of the OSH Act.Bowman admitted to not properly protecting PACES employees from exposure to hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas resulting in the death of truck driver Joey Sutter on Dec. 18, 2008. In addition, Bowman admitted to directing employees to falsify transportation documents to conceal that the wastewater was coming from PACES after a disposal facility put a moratorium on all wastewater shipments from PACES after received loads containing hydrogen sulfide. He was sentenced to serve 12 months in federal prison on Oct. 28 by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. Bowman was also ordered to pay fines in the amount of $5,000.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dreher called the sentence “a just punishment” for Bowman’s actions, which placed workers “at unacceptable risk and had fatal consequences.”
“The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously investigate and prosecute those who violate the laws enacted to ensure the safety of workers handling hazardous materials and to prevent the kind of tragedies that…