A whistleblower and former safety chief at Crane Army Ammunition Activity said after he warned a federal agency of possible explosions and deaths at the facility, government agents destroyed evidence and fired him in retaliation.
Rick Ward said safety violations first identified after a 2013 explosion that hospitalized five people continue to endanger people at the southern Indiana military installation.
“We’re talking catastrophic type stuff here,” he said. “I want to see people not die.”
An Army spokesman said via email the Army takes workspace safety “very seriously” and its investigation revealed no personnel at Crane “were in immediate danger of being seriously injured.”
Ward in October 2020 filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleging the Army had failed to address several safety violations, some of which date back to OSHA's investigation after the 2013 explosion.
Ward said last week that the U.S. military still is failing to follow proper procedures at Crane, including the handling of explosives.
He said personnel at the facility in some cases are moving explosives with chains and slings that have not been inspected or certified for years. If those chains or slings fail, the bombs can drop, which Ward said has happened. The bombs could explode, blow up buildings and kill workers.
“They’re just sloppy,” he said. “They don’t follow (standard operating procedures.)”
Ward said people were injured by explosives at Crane on several...
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