One worker killed, 11 injured in collapse
Federal safety officials allege that two construction companies willfully failed to brace the framework of a building under construction in Brooklyn, NY, resulting in a collapse that killed one worker and injured 11 others.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Industrial Enterprises/ Faye Industries Corp. in Brooklyn, alleging a total of one willful, 21 serious, and six other-than-serious violations of health and safety standards. Proposed penalties total $145,500.
According to Robert Kulick, OSHA area director, the citations result from an inspection conducted from Nov. 23, 1999, through Feb. 8, 2000, at a residential construction site in Brooklyn, following an employee fatality. Eduardo Daniel of Brighton Beach was killed and 11 other employees were injured when the building collapsed on Nov. 23 during concrete pouring operations.
OSHA cited Enterprises/Faye for failure to ensure that the building’s formwork was erected, braced, and maintained properly to enable it to support vertical and lateral loads, an alleged willful violation carrying a total proposed penalty of $70,000.
Among the alleged serious violations are:
• failure to properly instruct employees in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions at the work site;
• failure to provide protective helmets to employees;
• failure to provide proper fall protection for employees from unprotected sides of the structure and from floor and wall openings, with guardrails, safety nets, and personal arrest systems;
• failure to keep drawings, plans, and blueprints available at the work site;
• failure to ensure that metal decking was properly secured;
• failure to properly install and use ladders at the work-site;
• failure to fill stair pans on staircases;
• failure to provide handrails on stairways;
The alleged serious violations carry a total proposed penalty of $35,000.
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