OSHA Penalties in Fort Lauderdale Crane Crash Target Rigging Contractor

Survivor of car crushed by fallen tower crane section at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., high-rise project looks back as she walks away. OSHA has proposed fines related to the climbing mechanism, connecting hardware and wire rope.
*Image via Fort. Lauderdale Police Dept. video*

Federal safety officials have proposed penalties against a crane rigging contractor and a tower crane owner related to the April tower crane accident in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in which a rigger died in a long fall from a high-rise apartment building and a tower crane section came crashing down on motorists.

Rigger Jorge De La Torre, 27, was killed, and several motorists had their cars damaged. Some of the accident and its aftermath was captured on video released in July by the Fort Lauderdale police department.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed a penalty of $39,000 against Phoenix Rigging & Erecting, Mableton, Ga., for three serious violations. OSHA accused the company of failing to have a qualified person inspect equipment and connection hardware prior to each shift.

Specifically, OSHA claimed, the company failed to discover corroded and cracked pins, bolts and improperly tightened end connections. Furthermore, the company also failed to check the U-bolt (clamps/clips), bolts, pins, thimble and wire rope of the Terex Top Climbing System-Trolly Rail Guide.

Finally, OSHA cited Phoenix Rigging for failing to ensure that all staff on a climbing platform—where a section to be inserted into the mast sits and riggers make final connections—were properly tied off.

The two proposed serious citations—and proposed fines for a total of $23,000—against Cannonsburg, Pa.-based Maxim Crane Works involved its alleged failure to have a qualified person inspect the same wire ropes and connecting hardware.

The OSHA citations and proposed penalties do not state exactly what triggered the failure or describe the failure sequence. A post-accident photo of the climbing unit, a video description by the rigging crew boss and a police department report pointed to the potential role of a climbing platform cable.

Neither Phoenix Rigging & Erecting nor Maxim Crane Works could immediately be reached for comment about whether they will contest the proposed penalties.

Referring to De La Torre, OSHA Area Director Condell Eastmond said in a statement that “if these companies had made safety a priority, a young man’s family, friends and co-workers wouldn’t be facing this preventable loss. Construction employers are responsible for ensuring that workers use fall protection in hazardous situations, and we will hold all employers accountable for failing to provide safe working conditions.”

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.