Federal workplace safety regulators have issued citations against a Duke Energy contractor following an August incident in Seminole that killed one worker and severely injured two others.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued three serious citations against Primoris Services Corp., operating as Primoris T&D Services LLC, and proposed $49,650 in penalties. The Dallas-based company, which reports roughly $7.5 billion in annual revenue, has contested the citations.

Justin St. Clair Bryan, 31, of Hernando County, died at the scene of the Aug. 12 incident at 8675 Park Blvd. Co-workers Jefferey Busch, 28, of Polk County, and Matthew Waldrop, 31, were hospitalized with severe burns.

The crew was replacing a utility pole when it contacted an energized overhead transmission line. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said the crew’s boom operator had been struggling to position the pole when the boom’s claw struck it, pushing it into the power line. The blast knocked out power to roughly 14,000 Duke Energy customers.

OSHA cited Primoris for failing to ensure workers maintained the required minimum approach distance from energized parts or have the line de-energized, failing to assign an observer to monitor approach distances, and failing to ensure the job briefing covered hazards of working near energized transmission lines.

Both injured workers face long recoveries. Busch spent nearly 50 days in the hospital, underwent 10 surgeries, suffered burns to 36% of his body, and lost six toes and part of his left foot. Waldrop, described as an Army veteran and crew foreman, was reported to face weeks of burn treatment at Tampa General Hospital.

Three other Primoris workers died in the five years before the Seminole incident, according to OSHA records reviewed by the Tampa Bay Times, two of them also electrocuted during power line work. In two of the three earlier cases, OSHA cited the company, but the citations were later removed after the company contested them or reached settlements.

Primoris has contested the current citations before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Duke Energy said in a statement that worker and contractor safety was its highest priority.

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