Aerospace company settles explosion-related violation appeal
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A Spokane, Washington-based aerospace company, Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support L.L.C., agreed to pay $500,000 as part of an appeal settlement over safety and health violations at the company's Newport, Washington, plant.
In July 2015, 17 workers were injured in an explosion at the Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support plant. A Washington State Department of Labor & Industries investigation completed in January 2016 found 17 willful violations and 21 serious violations. Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support will be classified as a “severe violator” as a part of the settlement, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries said in a statement Thursday.
The final willful violation “affirms that the company used defective equipment and didn't ensure safe procedures were used when processing flammable materials in its industrial curing oven, as advised in a consulting engineer’s report. This directly led to the explosion,” the department said in the statement.
The penalty money will be placed in the workers compensation supplemental pension fund to help workers and families of those who have died on the job, according to the statement.
Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support could not be immediately reached for comment.
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