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JUDY WOODRUFF: As a candidate, 
President Trump called for the 
largest expansion of the Navy

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since the Reagan administration, 
but his latest budget proposal 
contains more modest short-term

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increases.

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Still, it would boost business 
in the U.S. shipbuilding 
industry, which, despite serious

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safety violations in the 
past decade, continues 
to win billions of 
dollars in contracts to

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build Navy and 
Coast Guard vessels.

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Aubrey Aden-Buie of Reveal, from 
the Center for Investigative 
Reporting, has the story.

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JOHN WILLIAMS, Injured in 
Accident: I love you, baby doll.

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WANDA WILLIAMS, Wife of John 
Williams: I love you, too.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: 
Wanda Williams' life 
changed forever when her 
sister-in-law rushed to her

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house in 2014.

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WANDA WILLIAMS: And she 
got out of the car crying.

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And she said that John got hurt 
and he was hurt really bad.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Wanda's 
husband, John, nearly died in an 
accident at the shipyard where

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he worked.

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WANDA WILLIAMS: We would have 
never thought that this would 
have happened to him, because

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this is things that he 
did every single day.

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He went to work as my husband, 
and he came home as a child.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Wanda 
now takes care of her 
husband 24 hours a day.

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The accident happened three 
years ago at a VT Halter 
Mississippi shipyard.

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A surveillance camera recorded 
as Williams' crane lost balance 
and suddenly tipped over.

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His co-worker, Willie 
Horne, saw it happen.

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WILLIE HORNE, Co-Worker: The 
boom pulled back and it just 
bounced back all kind of ways.

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And he was just messed up.

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His head was crushed.

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That stuff like that, it's 
just something that you 
just can't forget like that.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: The 
accident crushed Williams' 
skull and left him blind.

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For months before the accident, 
he had complained about the 
crane's broken load sensor.

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VT Halter re-installed the 
sensor two days earlier, but the 
Occupational Safety and Health

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Administration, or OSHA, 
later determined it 
wasn't fully operational.

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There is a history of serious 
accidents at VT Halter.

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A few years earlier, two 
workers were killed applying 
paint thinner inside a tugboat.

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In this crawlspace, while 
working with insufficient 
ventilation and without 
explosion-proof lights,

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vapors built up over 600 
times the legal limit, 
igniting in a flash fire.

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Joey Pettey barely 
escaped the blast.

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JOEY PETTEY, Accident Survivor: 
The explosion, when it happened, 
it blew doors and hatches

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and electrical panels, 
boom, boom, boom.

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When that third one 
hit, it blew it out.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: OSHA 
investigated and called 
that accident horrific 
and preventable, and

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fined the company over $800,000.

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But a month following 
the explosion, the Navy 
awarded VT Halter the 
contract to build this

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ship, worth $87 million.

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JOEY PETTEY: The contracts 
are pretty hefty amounts, 
and the fines is really low.

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It seems like a slap on the 
wrist when you got that kind 
of money rolling around.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: We repeatedly 
reached out to VT Halter, 
but they declined to comment

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or to be interviewed.

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They're one of seven major 
U.S. shipbuilders that contract 
with the Navy and Coast Guard.

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Our review of federal contracts, 
court records, and OSHA files 
found that, since 2008, the

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federal government has awarded 
more than $100 billion to these 
companies, despite serious

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safety lapses that have 
endangered and killed workers.

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In neighboring Mobile, Alabama, 
Austal USA is building some 
of the country's newest naval

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vessels.

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Huge aluminum modules are 
assembled into warships on 
the banks of the Mobile River.

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But dozens of its workers have 
been injured by a power tool 
used to cut through metal.

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Their own top safety manager 
dubbed it the widow maker.

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MARTIN OSBORN, Injured 
in Accident: The day 
of my accident, I was 
using the miller, as

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it is called at Austal.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Martin 
Osborn is a welder at Austal.

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MARTIN OSBORN: I was up in a 
boom lift, as we call it, or a 
man lift, up in the air about

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40 feet, cutting a lifting 
lug off the side of a module, 
and had a violent kickback.

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It kicked out of my hands 
and went across my left 
hand, cutting me pretty bad.

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I didn't take my glove off, 
because, I knew if I did that, 
I would have blood everywhere.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Before 
Osborn's accident, Austal 
modified the Metabo 
grinder by replacing

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the standard disc with 
a sawtooth blade made 
by an outside company.

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This made the tool more 
versatile, able to cut 
through aluminum more quickly.

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But the manufacturer of 
the grinder specifically 
warned against using 
these blades, saying

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they cause frequent kickback 
and loss of control.

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MARTIN OSBORN: I have seen 
pictures of people getting cut 
in their face, in their necks,

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in their thighs.

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It's the most dangerous tool 
I have ever put in my hands.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Does 
Austal know that the tool 
is as dangerous as it is?

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MARTIN OSBORN: Yes, 
ma'am, they do.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Company 
e-mails among Austal's 
managers obtained by 
Reveal show that, even

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before Osborn's accident, they 
called the modification lethal, 
and the grinders an accident

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waiting to happen.

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Yet, according to Osborn, 
Austal workers still 
use the grinder daily.

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MARTIN OSBORN: I have 
had numerous supervisors 
tell me that, you 
know, if you don't want

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to use the tool, go get 
a job at Burger King.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Despite 
repeated requests, 
Austal declined to 
comment for this story.

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The company has received 
more than $6 billion in 
Navy contracts since 2008.

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But when OSHA concluded the saw 
exposed workers to amputations, 
severe lacerations, and other

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injuries, they fined the 
shipyard just over $4,000.

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Austal's own records show at 
least 50 workers were injured 
by the tool in four years.

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BRIAN DUNCAN, Attorney: 
Why would any manufacturer 
or any company continue 
to use a tool after

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dozens and dozens of 
people have been injured?

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Attorney 
Brian Duncan is representing 
Osborn, along with eight others,

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in a lawsuit which he 
hopes will bring more 
than just compensation.

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BRIAN DUNCAN: I hope, when there 
are companies out there that 
have intentionally, knowingly

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violated safety standards, that 
somebody will come in, in that 
scenario and will hold those

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people accountable.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: David 
Michaels, the head of OSHA under 
former President Obama, was

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until recently in charge of 
enforcing workplace safety laws.

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He acknowledges that 
OSHA's maximum penalties 
are insufficient, 
capped by federal law.

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DAVID MICHAELS, Former OSHA 
Director: They're tiny compared 
to the contracts that many of

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these companies get 
from the government and 
from the private sector.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: He says 
that the real power the 
government holds is in 
awarding the contracts

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themselves.

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DAVID MICHAELS: The biggest 
fine is a million dollars, 
two million dollars.

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That is petty cash for these 
companies that get $100 million, 
$200 million, $300 million

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contracts from the Defense 
Department to build 
ships that are protecting 
the United States.

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We need to be protecting 
our workers as much as 
protecting our shores.

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MATTHEW PAXTON, President, 
Shipbuilders Council of America: 
I know Navy puts a high priority

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on safety, as do our shipyards 
that are building those ships.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: President 
of the Shipbuilders 
Council of America, 
Matthew Paxton, says the

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government does consider safety 
records when awarding contracts.

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MATTHEW PAXTON: I think they 
take that into a whole lot of 
considerations that they have

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to figure out on 
their contracting end.

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And there's many requirements 
that go into that beyond safety.

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But safety's in there.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Yet, 
the Navy's history of 
awarding contracts to 
companies with repeated

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violations suggests that 
it places little emphasis 
on safety records.

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NAVSEA, the Naval command 
responsible for shipbuilding 
contracts, declined an on-camera

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interview, but a spokesperson 
said in an e-mail that 
it's up to OSHA, not 
the Navy, to enforce

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federal safety laws.

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They added: "We are not 
the overlords of private 
shipyards when it comes 
to workplace safety."

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DAVID MICHAELS: The 
Navy has the power.

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They can easily say, if 
workers are hurt, if you don't 
follow the basic commonsense

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safety rules, you don't 
get any more contracts.

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That would have a huge impact.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Former 
President Obama signed 
an executive order 
that required companies

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to disclose three years of 
safety violations when vying 
for large federal contracts.

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But a federal court 
blocked that order.

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And, this spring, Congress 
drafted a resolution to 
overturn it altogether.

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SEN.

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MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), 
Majority Leader: The regulations 
aren't issued in a vacuum.

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They have real economic 
consequences that can 
harm the middle class.

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They can kill jobs, raise 
prices, depress wages 
and lower opportunities.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: President 
Trump signed the resolution into 
law, meaning companies don't

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have to disclose their 
safety records when 
competing for contracts.

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That same month, Senator 
Elizabeth Warren asked 
the Justice Department 
to open a criminal

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investigation into VT Halter.

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SEN.

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ELIZABETH WARREN (D), 
Massachusetts: We want 
to get to the bottom 
of why people have died

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and what kind of responsibility 
the company itself has.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: Warren wants 
the Navy to scrutinize safety 
records when granting contracts

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to all shipbuilders.

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SEN.

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ELIZABETH WARREN: And in the 
same way that they look at 
how much is it going to cost,

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they also need to look 
at whether or not this is 
a contractor who injures 
and kills employees.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: At Austal's 
shipyard, Martin Osborn still 
frequently uses a sawtooth blade

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like the one that 
cost him his finger.

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He says nothing will change 
unless shipyards are made to 
pay a price for putting workers

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at risk.

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MARTIN OSBORN: We're not 
worried about if you get cut 
or the next guy gets cut.

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We just put another guy in your 
place and move on down the road.

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AUBREY ADEN-BUIE: For the 
"PBS NewsHour," I'm Aubrey 
Aden-Buie in Mobile, Alabama.