Pipe Fitter's Employers Fined $100K After His Death From Burn Injuries

A 39-year-old pipe fitter who was splashed with ethanol that caught fire died of his injuries this spring. This week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued nearly $100,000 in fines for violations of federal work safety standards uncovered during an investigation of his death. Zenon Navarrete worked for Bilfinger-Westcon, a North Dakota-based contractor, on a South Dakota ethanol refinery expansion project. On May 6, he was removing a vent line on the sixth floor when ethanol spilled onto him, flowed through the grated floor and was ignited by welding operations on the fourt...