The U.S. Naval Academy has been cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for two serious safety violations after a steam blast last month that injured two maintenance employees.
An OSHA report said specific procedures had not been developed for the control of potentially hazardous energy in the basement Mechanical Room of Bancroft Hall, the dormitory that houses all 4,100 midshipmen, and that employees were not trained in an energy control program.
"The classification is a serious violation," Leonard Moore, assistant area director for the Baltimore office of OSHA, said yesterday. Academy officials have until Jan. 11 to correct the problems.
The citations were issued Dec. 7 as a result of the Nov. 20 steam pipe accident that scalded two workers and forced a partial evacuation of Bancroft Hall.
They came four days before another high-pressure steam system ruptured in the school's main heating plant.
That accident Sunday cut off heat to the entire campus and caused a natural gas leak that prompted firefighters to temporarily close two Annapolis streets.
OSHA safety inspectors found evidence of maintenance problems throughout the system and ordered the academy to install safety locks on all water and electrical utilities.
Capt. Tom Jurkowsky, an academy spokesman, said the academy moved to correct the problems the day after the accident and has now dealt with both the safety locks and training.
Adm. Charles R. Larson, the superintendent, told the academy's advisory Board of Visitors this week that if he saw safety or maintenance problems at the academy that were threatening, he would immediately ask Adm. Jeremy Boorda, the chief of naval operations, for the money with which to correct the problem, said Captain Jurkowsky.
The board has fretted frequently in its annual report to the president about maintenance problems at the academy.
Many of the ornate buildings, including Bancroft Hall and the chapel, were built in the first two decades of this century.
"There's a backlog of maintenance here," said Captain Jurkowsky, adding that Admiral Larson was able to get an additional $4 million to the $41 million set aside this year for maintenance projects.
Admiral Larson hopes to refurbish all the academy's buildings within the next 10 to 15 years, Captain Jurkowsky said.