04.03.2007

Steel company fined

Rose Steel of Greenland New Hampshire, has been fined $4,200 after a crane it was using blew over and crashed into three apartment buildings in high winds last October.
[[lin:http://www.vertikal.net/en/stories.php?id=3181]]See Wind blows crane over[[link]]
The crane was being used on an expansion of Maine Medical Center, remarkably no one was injured in incident.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration,(OSHA) part of the U.S. Department of Labor, conducted an investigation and found that the crane operator violated safety guidelines.

"Rose Steel was cited for one serious violation and paid a penalty of $4,200," said OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald. Federal law requires employees to comply with manufacturer specifications and limitations applicable to the operation of cranes."

The agency's investigator initially concluded that William A. Berry & Son, the general contractor on the job, also had committed a serious safety violation and should be fined $5,600. But after discussing the incident with the company last month, OSHA downgraded the violation to its lowest severity and eliminated the fine.

"We believe we did everything that was prudent and in the specifications for securing the crane prior to the windstorm and the weather that came in," said David Passafaro, vice president for Berry. "Us and the subcontractor, we went through all the steps proscribed in the specifications of the equipment. We went through the normal lockdown on a Friday night."

The crane collapsed on a Sunday morning, winds were measured at the Portland airport that morning at 55 mph, but winds tend to be stronger on Portland's Western Promenade, where the $112 million hospital expansion is taking place.

The company conducted its own internal review and decided it will be more cautious.

"The only thing we really could have done differently or done more is to bring the crane down, and that's a function of time and of cost," said Passafaro.

"If we get to a position where we're going to get a northeaster on the job site, I'm pretty sure we're going to go that extra step and take a half day on both sides and say let's bring it down," he continued.

The crane's collapse badly damaged one of the buildings The tenants were unable to get into the building because of concerns over its safety. When they did get in a week or so later, many of their possessions had been stolen.

The $4,200 fine levied against Rose Steel is relatively small compared with other OSHA sanctions.