New London — Three employees in the Department of Public Works, including Director Tim Hanser, have been fired and another employee disciplined as a result of recent safety violations at the Solid Waste Transfer Station, the mayor's office announced Friday afternoon.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy for safety violations at the Solid Waste Transfer Station,” said Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio in the statement released. “Fortunately, no one was hurt as a result of these recent violations, but when our safety protocols are violated despite repeated training and prior discipline, employees must be held accountable.”

Tom Ryan and Okoi Tucker were terminated effective Friday for safety violations discovered during an investigation conducted by the city's personnel director, Tina Collins, and Risk Manager Paul Gills.

Earlier this week, city attorney Brian Estep told the City Council of a reported safety violation regarding gates at the DPW transfer station.

When pressed further about the “reported safety issue” Estep said “gates were left open that put a citizen at risk.”

The transfer station on Lewis Street, in the shadow of the Gold Star Bridge, includes the trash compactor in which a city resident was crushed to death last year.

Hanser, a former chemistry teacher, Pfizer scientist and Green Party campaign manager, has served as DPW director for the entirety of Finizio’s term. On a recent episode of the mayor's cable access television show, Finizio said he chose Hanser for the job, despite his not having prior public works experience, because of his leadership and organizational skills.

Finizio said former Canterbury First Selectman Brian H. Sear will serve as interim public works director from June 1 until Nov. 5. Sear previously represented the 47th House District in the General Assembly and said he has experience working with a troubled transfer station.

“I believe public works is the backbone of municipal government,” Sear said in a statement released by Finizio’s office. “While serving as first selectman for the town of Canterbury, public works services and improvements were a main priority. I inherited a noncompliant solid waste transfer station and obtained funding and oversaw construction of a totally new, state-of-the-art facility.”

David DeNoia, DPW superintendent and logistics chief, will serve as interim director until Sear takes over on June 1, the mayor announced.

Friday’s firings and disciplinary action come less than two months after the March firing of solid waste employee Mounir Hage and the suspension of four other DPW employees for a previous safety violation.

In March, Hage was fired because he is alleged to have used a black plastic knob and duct tape to bypass a safety switch designed to prevent the trash compactor from running automatically.

Four other DPW employees were disciplined in March, though not publicly identified, with sanctions including one reprimand, one “minor suspension” and one “severe suspension,” according to the mayor.

After the January 2014 death of Floyd Smeeton, a city resident who apparently fell into the running trash compactor at the transfer station and was crushed to death, the city implemented new safety protocols for the facility, Solid Waste Division employees were retrained and DPW enacted a zero-tolerance policy for safety violations at the transfer station, according to the mayor’s office.

The state Department of Labor’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Conn-OSHA) cited New London for “willful” and “serious” safety violations contributing to a hazardous work environment at the transfer station and levied a fine of $10,800 against the city after Smeeton’s death.

Among the violations found by Conn-OSHA was the failure to have railings or guardrails to prevent people from falling into the trash compactor area.

The transfer station had previously been cited in March 2010 for having no railings to protect against a possible fall, according to records obtained from the Department of Labor. The director of Conn-OSHA told The Day that because the safety issues cited in 2010 had not been rectified, the agency felt the city displayed “a plain indifference” to safety at the transfer station.

Smeeton’s death brought to light a number of safety issues at the transfer station, including the fact that no one was manning the compactor’s control room, which includes an emergency shutoff button, when Smeeton fell into the trash compactor, according to the police report on the incident. Police determined Smeeton’s death was accidental, and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung