Detyens Shipyards Inc.
Outcome
Detyens Shipyards Inc. was cited for one willful and two serious OSHA violations and fined $190,130 after a 41-year-old worker fell 20 feet from an unguarded platform inside a naval vessel gas tank in November 2023 — the company's fourth worker fatality since 2019 and 34th serious violation across 18 inspections since 2014.
Details
Detyens Shipyards Inc. — Fourth Fatal Fall Since 2019, Willful Citation, North Charleston SC (2023–2024)
Outcome: A 41-year-old Detyens Shipyards worker fell approximately 20 feet from an unguarded platform inside a naval vessel gas tank in November 2023 and died — the company's fourth fatality since 2019; OSHA cited one willful and two serious violations and proposed $190,130 in penalties; the company has accumulated 33 serious violations across 18 inspections since 2014.
In November 2023, a 41-year-old worker at Detyens Shipyards Inc. in North Charleston, South Carolina was aboard a naval vessel working on a gas tank when he fell approximately 20 feet from an unguarded platform. Crew members were waiting for him to descend when the fall occurred. The worker died from his injuries.
OSHA's investigation resulted in a willful citation for exposing workers to fall hazards without guardrails on the elevated platform — the agency's finding that the company knew workers were exposed and knowingly chose not to install fall protection. Two additional serious violations covered inadequate lighting for the work environment and failure to require hard hats when tools overhead posed falling object hazards.
The November 2023 fatality was the company's fourth worker death since 2019: two additional fatal falls occurred in 2020 and 2022. Detyens employs approximately 510 workers and operates as a federal defense contractor. The company had accumulated 33 serious violations across 18 OSHA inspections since 2014 before this 2024 citation. OSHA proposed $190,130 in penalties.
How Crucible Prevents This
Detyens Shipyards' four fatalities since 2019 and 33 serious violations across 18 inspections since 2014 represent a long-term pattern of documented non-correction in a federal defense contractor context. Crucible's compliance escalation tracking — requiring fall protection system documentation and independent safety verification before any elevation work on naval vessels is authorized — would apply heightened pre-work scrutiny proportional to the employer's documented fatality history.
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