PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Federal regulators have cited a company for workplace safety violations stemming from a deadly southeast Kansas fireworks explosion.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $55,000 in fines against Lone Star Management LLC after finding nine serious safety violations.
The blast happened Aug. 12 as employees were moving pallets of fireworks and cardboard out of an explosives storage facility in Pittsburg. OSHA said employees were directed to use a gas-powered forklift that wasn’t approved for a flammable environment, and gas ignited.
One worker, 28-year-year-old Kenny Clark, died several hours later at a hospital in Joplin, Missouri. OSHA said another employee suffered burns over 80 percent of his body.
OSHA also accused the company of storing cardboard in the explosives’ containers.