Firm Blames Operator for Crane Accident

SAN DIEGO — An investigation has concluded that operator error was to blame for the July 10 accident that left six workers dead and six injured at the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co., its officials said Friday.

That accident, the worst ever at the company, occurred when a steel-mesh personnel basket being lifted by a crane and carrying 12 men fell 30 feet onto the deck on the Sacramento, a Navy supply ship that is being overhauled.

“It’s human error,” said Fred Hallett, company vice president. But he declined to discuss the specific cause of the accident.

Defer to OSHA

He said the company will defer to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is investigating the accident, in making any announcement of the cause.

OSHA officials warned that the company’s conclusion was premature. “As far as I’m concerned the investigation is still open and ongoing,” said Jerry Ryan, director of the local OSHA office.

The crane operator, Hugh Humphrey, a 13-year company veteran, could not be reached for comment Friday. He has repeatedly refused to discuss the accident.

Hallett said company officials concluded that Humphrey was to blame for the tragedy after investigators performed tests on the crane involved in the accident. The three days of testing, which included a simulation of the accident, ended Friday.

Hallett said the tests “detected no mechanical problems.” However, he admitted that questions remain about the company’s overtime policy and about the role, if any, that extended work hours might have played in the accident.