Trinity Marine Worker Falls 15 Feet in Barge Accident in Ashland City, TN

Posted in Barge Accidents,Maritime Accidents,Maritime Law,Maritime Lawsuits,Tennessee Maritime News on October 6, 2011

ASHLAND CITY, TN – A maritime worker employed by Trinity Marine was injured when he fell 15 feet while working on a barge. The accident occurred on Monday evening, Sept. 26, around 8 p.m.

According to Ashland City fire chief Chuck Walker, the victim was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. There were no other known details reported at the time of the incident.

The Tennessean reports:

The incident occurred about 10 months after another employee died at Trinity Marine in a work-related accident.

Julio Colon-Figueroa, 47, of Springfield, died in the Nov. 29, 2010, accident.

According to a police report, Colon-Figueroa was lying on the ground next to a large piece of metal when authorities arrived on the scene and he was bleeding from his head. He was transported to Vanderbilt, but was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched an investigation into the death of Colon-Figueroa.

Bill Cochran, an area director of the Nashville OSHA office, told The Times last week that five citations were issued earlier this year to Trinity Marine in the November 2010 case.

Cochran said the company has contested the citations, and the case is currently going through litigation.

According to the OSHA documents, Trinity Marine was also issued a $7,000 penalty, and that will be determined as part of the appeals process.

This was the third work-related fatality at Trinity Marine in 13 years.