Qualawash Holdings LLC (operating as Quala Services LLC)
Outcome
Qualawash Holdings LLC (Quala Services LLC) was cited for 8 repeat and 11 serious OSHA violations and fined $810,703 after a second worker died from confined space entry failures at the La Porte, Texas tank cleaning facility in December 2023 — the same violations that caused two deaths at the same location in November 2019.
Details
Qualawash Holdings LLC (Quala Services LLC) — Third Worker Dies in Same Confined Space Tank Cleaning Failure (2019–2024)
Outcome: Quala Services LLC was cited for 8 repeat and 11 serious OSHA violations and fined $810,703 after a worker died in December 2023 at the La Porte, Texas tanker cleaning facility from the same confined space entry failures that killed two workers at the same location in November 2019 — violations previously cited in June 2020.
In November 2019, two workers died at Qualawash Holdings LLC's tanker cleaning facility in La Porte, Texas during confined space entry operations. OSHA investigated and issued citations in June 2020, requiring the company to correct its confined space safety practices, including atmospheric testing before any worker enters a tank.
In December 2023, a 53-year-old worker failed to return from his shift. His family reported him missing, and he was found unresponsive at the facility later that day. OSHA's reinvestigation found that the company had not conducted required atmospheric testing before allowing the worker to enter the tank — the exact same failure that caused the November 2019 double fatality.
OSHA issued eight repeat violations (reflecting the re-cited June 2020 citations for the same failure categories) and 11 serious violations covering failure to conduct atmospheric testing, inadequate confined space entry procedures, carbon monoxide overexposure potential, and electrical hazards. The agency proposed $810,703 in penalties. The OSHA Area Director stated that "had Quala Services acted responsibly and made the safety reforms as required in 2020, another employee would not have lost their life."
Primary Source: Four years after double fatality, Houston-area tank cleaning contractor cited for same hazards that claimed another employee's life
How Crucible Prevents This
This is the definitive recidivism case: two workers died in November 2019 in the same confined space entry failure scenario, OSHA cited the company and required corrective action, and a third worker died in December 2023 under identical circumstances at the same location. Crucible's compliance gap tracking — requiring documented evidence of atmospheric testing protocol implementation, not just citation closure acknowledgment — would have required the company to demonstrate functional correction of confined space procedures before any tank cleaning operations resumed after the 2020 citations.
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