September 22, 2008

Three construction firms fined in fatal New York crane collapse

NEW YORK

A federal agency hit three construction firms with penalties totaling US$313,500 recently for alleged safety violations leading to a tower crane collapse that killed seven people last March.

The citations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration named three companies: Reliance Contractors Group, the general contractor; Rapetti Rigging Services, Inc., the crane erector; and Joy Contractors Inc., the concrete subcontractor on the project.

The charges included failure to properly train employees about job site hazards and allowing hazards to exist. OSHA said Rapetti had failed to comply with the crane manufacturer’s specifications when erecting and raising the steel tower. One of its employees was killed.

The 19-storey tower crane broke away from a luxury apartment building under construction and fell across other buildings as far as a block away. A city construction site inspector was later charged with falsely claiming he had inspected the crane 11 days before the mishap.

“Ultimately, the crane collapse was a failure to follow basic, but essential, construction safety processes,” Richard Mendelson, area director of the OSHA, said in a statement.

The incident in busy midtown Manhattan was one in a wave of fatal construction mishaps in the city. On May 30, another tower crane broke apart and fell on an apartment building, killing two workers.

Associated Press

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