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The Veterans Affairs medical center in West Haven viewed from West Spring Street on July 20, 2021.

The scene outside of the boiler plant at the Veterans Affairs medical center in West Haven following an explosion earlier in the morning on Nov. 13, 2020.

The Campbell Avenue entrance to the Veterans Affairs medical center in West Haven photographed on July 20, 2021.

WEST HAVEN — The Veterans Affairs medical center has resolved 10 of 11 violations cited by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration since a fatal steam pipe explosion on Nov. 13, 2020, the VA said Wednesday.

OSHA officials visited the medical center Monday to discuss progress on OSHA’s requirements.

“VA Connecticut invited OSHA representatives to the West Haven campus on Jan. 31 to provide an update on corrective actions taken in response to the Notice of Unsafe and Unhealthful citations issued following OSHA’s investigation into the November 2020 steam pipe rupture,” Wednesday’s statement said.

The VA said it had submitted responses to all 11 citations and OSHA accepted all but one, which requires a service contract. That contract is expected to be awarded by May, the statement said.

“The Jan. 31 visit was not an inspection, but rather a collaboration between VA Connecticut and OSHA to ensure the healthcare system maintains a safe working environment across the facility,” the statement said. It also was an opportunity for OSHA executives to meet Chief of Facilities Management Services Carl Jaszkowski, who began in his position in November.

“OSHA’s visit was a collaboration just to make sure everything is done. They’re working together,” said Sharron Burke-Duncan, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1674, who was present.

Euel Sims Jr., 60, of Milford, a plumbing supervisor with the VA, and Joseph O’Donnell, a steamfitter for Danbury-based contractor Mulvaney Mechanical, were killed when a flange broke on a heating plant pipe in Building 22, releasing high-pressure steam.

OSHA issued nine notices of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions to the Connecticut VA, three of them repeat violations and five of them serious. Mulvaney Mechanical was cited for four serious violations with $38,228 in penalties.

OSHA cannot impose fines on governmental agencies, but the agency stated that if the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs were a private sector employer, the total penalty amount would have been $621,218.

Those who attended Monday’s tour were Steve Biasi, area director, and Catherine Brescia, deputy area director, from OSHA’s Bridgeport office; and, from Connecticut VA, Director Alfred Montoya, Deputy Executive Director Russell Armstead, Assistant Director Deeksha Ahuja, Chief of Facilities Management Services Carl Jaszkowski, Chief of Safety Ling Xu, Roger Pruzinsky, director of capital asset management, and Burke-Duncan. Richard “Scott” Martinek, president of National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-109, attended virtually.

Pamela Redmond, spokesman for the VA, said the violations from the fatal explosion “have been corrected, with the exception of one or two.” She said the OSHA executives were invited by the VA and that it wasn’t a formal inspection.

Among the items on the agenda was a demonstration of a log-out/tag-out procedure at the boiler plant. Failure to notify Mulvaney Mechanical of the VA’s LOTO procedures was one of the violations that contributed to the accident.

“They did tour that area. They toured other areas too,” Redmond said. “That wasn’t the sole reason for the visit.”

The group also inspected the site of an oxygen line break that occurred Jan. 12. Redmond said a contractor doing concrete demolition work ruptured the main oxygen line to the medical center. There were no injuries and the line was secured, according to a notice sent to employees.

“VA Connecticut had sufficient portable oxygen cylinders on-hand to meet patient needs,” according to the notice, and a temporary oxygen trailer was brought in Jan. 14. A larger one was installed Tuesday.

Ted Fitzgerald, spokesman for OSHA in Boston, said in an email that the VA is correcting the issues found. “OSHA meets periodically with VA officials to evaluate the facility’s abatement actions and abatement schedule for pending citation items,” he wrote. “As part of the ongoing process, OSHA managers met Monday with VA executive, safety and facility maintenance/servicing staff to observe/evaluate the completed abatements and review upcoming facility/steam system improvements.”

Fitzgerald said OSHA cannot discuss the specifics of open cases.

“This one was a good visit,” Burke-Duncan said Wednesday. “This is to show that they are being proactive.”

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382

Ed Stannard is a reporter whose beats include Yale University, religion, transportation, medicine, science and the environment. He grew up in the New Haven area and has lived there most of his life. He received his journalism degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and earned a master's degree in religious studies from Sacred Heart University. He has been an editor at the New Haven Register and at the Episcopal Church's national newspaper.

He loves the arts, travel and reading.