OSHA informed of death related incident at Shipyard in Satala

Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA will soon arrive in the territory to take over the investigation by the US Coast Guard into the death of the American Samoa Shipyard Services Authority employee, Ricky Fa’amoana.

US Coast Guard Lt Richard Quintana told KVZK that when the incident was reported to their office, they immediately took action, conducted their preliminary investigation, and referred this matter to OSHA, as they are the responsible federal agency investigating such issues.

Lt Quintana said OSHA requested for Coast Guard to investigate specific aspects of the incident, but they will conduct a thorough investigation once they arrive on island.

As reported last week, Shipyard’s Chief Executive Officer, Carlos Sanchez, confirmed that 23-year-old Faamoana started working there four months ago.

Sanchez confirmed to KVZK news that Fa’amoana drowned while welding underwater during training.

However, the CEO declined to go into details.

He said they pulled him from the water and applied CPR while waiting for the ambulance, but after close to 40 minutes, they transported him to the LBJ and met with the EMS in Fagatogo.

Video footage on social media showed shipyard staff applying CPR as Faamoana was lying in the back of a truck when the EMS arrived.