URS Corp., San Francisco, agreed on Aug. 23 to pay $52.4 million to settle claims filed against it on behalf of victims in the August 2007 collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis. Photo AP/WideWorld The accident killed 13 people and injured 145 others. URS says it agreed to the pact, under which it admits no liability or fault, to avoid a lengthy trial that was to start next year. Plaintiffs claimed the company had missed signs of structural stresses on the bridge during a pre-accident inspection, but URS has said it was not involved in the span’s design or
The number of construction deaths declined 16% in 2009, but with the volume of construction work down, the industry's fatality rate remained flat, the Dept. of Labor has reported. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest annual census of fatal occupational injuries, released Aug. 19, reports that construction deaths totaled 816 last year, down from 975 in 2008. But the 2009 fatality rate, which takes account of shifts in industry activity, showed no improvement, holding even with 2008, at 9.7 per 100,000 full-time workers. BLS says, "Economic conditions may explain much of this decline" in the number of construction jobsite fatalities,
Even as U.K.-based oil giant BP remains in the U.S. government’s crosshairs for environmental damage resulting from the Deepwater Horizon drill-rig explosion that killed 11 workers April 20, it now faces record fines and new scrutiny over another fatal accident five years ago at a land-based company facility in Texas. Photo: Courtesy of U.S. Occupational Safety And Health Administration. Explosion in 2005 killed 15 contractor employees and injured 170 others at Texas City site. OSHA’s fine is the highest single penalty ever to be issued for a single event. Photo: Courtesy of U.S. Occupational Safety And Health Administration In addition
Researchers reported results of two key studies—one on using real-time technology to reduce the danger of working around construction equipment and another on the impact of project-site leadership on safety—to the Construction Industry Institute’s annual conference held Aug. 4-5 in Orlando, Fla. Photo: Courtesy Of Georgia Institute Of Technology Warning device worn by a worker (below) approaching a danger zone emits a signal picked up by a device in the equipment’s cab (above). Photo: Courtesy Of Georgia Institute Of Technology MCKINNEY Several safety-related topics were discussed at the event, including technology-based safety, which members and academics are researching in an
The general contractor on the Connecticut powerplant project that suffered a fatal explosion in February says it plans to contest $8.3 million in federal penalties proposed on Aug. 5 for safety violations. O&G Industries Inc., Torrington, Conn., was one of 17 site contractors fined a total of $16.6 million by the U.S. Labor Dept.’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 371 alleged violations related to the blast at the 620-MW Kleen Energy LLC combined-cycle plant in Middletown. Six workers were killed; 50 were injured. Photo By AP/WideWorld Kleen Energy powerplant project in Connecticut was the site of a fatal explosion
Lonnie Schock learned long ago that safety can’t be bought. A decade ago, while working as a safety professional on a job in Oregon for Intel, he got a tough lesson in how incentive programs intended to lower incident rates actually can unravel a project’s safety culture. The company used a popular lottery system, seen on many construction sites over the years, in which workers who reported solid safety statistics earned chances to win a new pickup truck; anyone injured on the job was ineligible for the prize. Workers driving to the jobsite saw the truck parked in front of
Employers soon will be held to a higher level of accountability regarding construction cranes. Federal safety regulators may be asking employers for their operator’s certification card during a routine jobsite inspection or accident investigation. However, the significant yet controversial mandate for operators to be trained,tested and certified to a national standard nearly died on the bargaining table. It was the will of one hoisting expert—under intense pressure from special interests to vote it down and even facing the possibility of losing his job as a prominent contractor’s crane-fleet manager—that kept it alive. Related Links: Construction Industry Gets Ready To Implement
Rigger William Rapetti was acquitted in July of all criminal charges against him in connection with the deadly collapse of a tower crane in New York City on March 15, 2008. However, with both of his licenses taken away, he says it has been difficult “to get my life back.” When he talked with ENR by telephone recently, Rapetti was waiting in his union hall because his rigging and crane operating licenses have been revoked by the city. Not having these credentials has forced him to turn down three jobs. Only his rigging license was in play at the collapse,
O&G Industries, the Torrington, Conn.-based general contractor on a Connecticut powerplant project where a fatal blast occurred in February during a natural gas venting operation, says it plans to contest penalties levied against it Aug. 5 by the U.S. Labor Dept.’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Photo: AP Wideworld Plant construction The firm was among three construction companies and 14 subcontractors that OSHA cited for numerous alleged workplace safety violations related to the Feb. 7 blast at the 620-MW Kleen Energy LLC plant in Middletown that killed six workers and injured 50 others. OSHA has proposed $16.6 million in penalties
In one of the most important federal construction safety actions in years, the Labor Dept.'s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a sweeping new rule aimed at reducing deaths and injuries involving construction cranes. OSHA says that the rule, released July 28, will affect about 267,000 construction and crane rental companies and certification organizations that together employ about 4.8 million workers. The 1,070-page revised standard for Cranes and Derricks in Construction replaces a 1971 regulation and is "long overdue," says Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Most provisions of the new rule will take effect Nov. 8. One key provision, a
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