COMPANY CITED, FINED IN WORKERS' DEATHS.Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer State regulators slapped a Tarzana heat-treating company with more than $150,000 in fines and eight citations after finding the company did not properly ventilate ventilate, v 1. to provide with fresh air. v 2. to provide the lungs with air from the atmosphere. v 3. to open, to free, as in to openly express one's feelings. a cooling tank where two Burbank men died earlier this year after being overcome by gas, officials said Thursday. The findings by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health stem from an investigation into the deaths of workers Steve Horan, 36, and Duane Pesicka, 43, on May 17 at Bodycote Thermal Processing, which does heat treating and metal brazing brazing, method of joining metal parts using nonferrous filler metals with high melting points such as copper, silver, and aluminum alloys. Brazing differs from soldering (see solder) by using a higher temperature; and unlike welding, the parts are not melted. in the 18600 block of Oxnard Street. ``The violation of health and safety codes put these employees in danger,'' said Dean Fryer, spokesman for Cal-OSHA. ``Because of the violations, two employees suffered fatal injuries.'' Pesicka, a maintenance worker at Bodycote for six years, delved into the tank, 5 feet wide and 9 feet deep, to repair a leak in the hydraulic equipment. Argon argon (är`gŏn) [Gr.,=inert], gaseous chemical element; symbol Ar; at. no. 18; at. wt. 39.948; m.p. −189.2°C;; b.p. −185.7°C;; density 1.784 grams per liter at STP; valence 0. gas had settled into a drained oil pit at the bottom of the tank, and fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. from the gas overcame him, Fryer said. ``They didn't properly ventilate the pit,'' Fryer said. ``When the employee went to do maintenance, the argon gas was down there.'' Horan, who was outside, rushed in to try to pull out Pesicka - who was his neighbor and best friend as well as his co-worker - but was knocked out by the fumes. A firefighter who was at the scene on May 17 later said Horan died a hero. Fryer said procedures should have been in place to ensure that no gas moved through the lines into the furnace furnace, enclosed space for the burning of fuel. There are many kinds of furnaces, the type depending upon the fuel and the use to which the heat produced within it is put. Most familiar are the furnaces used in the heating of buildings. and that there was proper ventilation. The company faces $153,720 in fines and eight citations with 17 different violations, he said. Since fatalities were involved, a report will be submitted to the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County District Attorney's Office for review, he added. The company is appealing the citations and fines to an administrative law judge administrative law judge n. a professional hearing officer who works for the government to preside over hearings and appeals involving governmental agencies. They are generally experienced in the particular subject matter of the agency involved or of several agencies. . Bodycote's general manager, Phil Stella, said Thursday that there would be no immediate comment on the case, but he said funds had been collected for the families of the victims. The men's wives Men's Wives is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. External links
The Horans and Pesickas had been neighbors for nearly four years. Pesicka's wife, Mary, said the two men were so close that people would ask if they were related. Horan, a maintenance supervisor who worked at Bodycote for nine years, left two sons, 12 and 14, and a 10-year-old daughter, as well as his wife, Betty. Pesicka left his wife, an 8-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) State regulators blame employer safety violations in the deaths of workers Steve Horan, left, and Duane Pesicka. |
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