Federal safety regulators in Philadelphia are eyeing a fiber-reinforced sidewalk vault cover as the smoking gun that caused an aerial work platform (AWP) to tip over, killing the operator and injuring three bystanders. The accident also is raising eyebrows over the proper use of AWPs and whether or not they are regulated vigorously enough. Photo: AP/Widewold Investigators are eyeing a Comcast vault cover as the smoking gun that caused a 20-ton aerial work platform in Philadelphia to tip over. On Oct. 12 in downtown Philadelphia, 41-year-old James Wilson was using the 125-ft-tall AWP to inspect the facade of the city’s
A 125-ft-tall boom lift tipped over in downtown Philadelphia on Oct. 12, killing the operator who was harnessed in the bucket. The worker, James Wilson of Glassboro, N.J., was inspecting exterior masonry of a church, according to Philadelphia Fire Dept. Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. Wilson may have driven the lift over a “manhole or grate” in the sidewalk that collapsed under the weight of the machine, Ayers said. The lift struck a neighboring five-story apartment building, sending debris to the street and injuring three bystanders. Ayers said the area is normally “bustling” with pedestrians, but the accident occurred during the Columbus
In a decision made public on Sept. 28, a U.S. Labor Dept. review board ruled a whistleblower was fired in retaliation for raising safety concerns at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry nuclear power complex in northern Alabama. In a 16-page decision, the panel overruled a department administrative law judge who had sided with Stone & Webster, the contractor working in 2004 to restart one of the generating station’s units. The firm fired James Speegle, a painter, when he raised concerns to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about protective coatings being used in the plant’s cooling systems. The firm, now
Design deficiencies draw the most fire in the government engineer’s report on the December 2007 fatal collapse of a parking garage under construction in Jacksonville, Fla. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a redacted version of the May 2008 report in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Florida Times-Union newspaper. Photo: Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Dept. Worker’s body was recovered after two days, but collapse’s cause remains unclear. One construction worker was killed and 23 others were injured on Dec. 6, 2007, when the six-level, 39,000-sq-ft, post-tensioned parking garage for the Berkman Plaza II
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Aug. 27 proposed fines of $72,000 fine against Sorbara Construction Corp., a Lynbrook, N.Y., concrete subcontractor, “for alleged repeat and serious” safety violations related to a March 20 accident in which a worker fell 10 ft on a Manhattan high-rise jobsite. The firm, which could not be reached for comment, has 15 days to appeal. OSHA says its jobsite inspection found “several fall-related hazards.” Sorbara’s clients include New York City’s largest building contractors. The firm was cited by OSHA last November for similar hazards at a separate Manhattan high-rise site, at which
California’s San Luis Obispo County has stopped work on a 45-mile-long pipeline and water-storage project after a third construction worker employed by Sacramento-based Teichert Construction died on a jobsite accident. The most recent fatality, near Pasa Robles, occurred on Aug. 20 when a vehicle backed up and struck Timothy Nelson, 29. Teichert is one of five prime contractors building segments of the pipeline for the county, which says the $176-million Nacimiento Pipeline is on budget and 85% complete. Last October, two Teichert employees at another Pasa Robles location drowned after being swept into a pipeline when a water line was
The number of construction workplace deaths and the industry’s fatality rate declined in 2008, but construction continues to have the most deaths among all industries, according to the U.S. Labor Dept.’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS also confirms what many knew: 2008 had the most crane accidents in years. Slide Show The latest annual BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, released on Aug. 20, shows construction had 969 fatalities in 2008. It is the largest total among U.S. industries, but the number was down 20% from construction’s 2007 total. One possible factor contributing to the sharp 2008 downturn in fatalities
The number of construction workplace deaths and the industry's fatality rate declined in 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. But the construction sector continues to have the highest number of jobsite deaths among U.S. industries. The 2008 BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, released on Aug. 20, shows that construction had 969 fatalities in 2008, down 20% from the previous year's total. The 969 total is the largest among industries. Transportation and warehousing ranks second, with 762 deaths. The 2008 numbers are preliminary, and will be updated in April. One likely factor behind the steep decrease in construction deaths
Russian authorites are investigating the cause of an explosion at the nation’s largest hydroelectric plant, in southern Siberia. The explosion at a powerplant of the 6,400-MW Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric dam, which was undergoing repairs, killed at least 12 workers and left as many as 64 others missing after lower sections of the plant flooded. News reports initially suspected a transformer exploded during repairs. The 800-ft-high, 3,168-ft-long dam was opened in 1978 and supplies energy to the region’s large aluminum smelters. Photo: AP/Wideworld
A design flaw and inadequate concrete curing in a cantilevered segment of an elevated rail track being built in Delhi, India, caused the July 12 collapse that killed six people, according to a government report released on July 28. The rail agency Delhi Metro Rail Corp. (DMRC) may ban from further work the design-build contractor that holds several other contracts on the system. DMRC also is inspecting 87 piers previously constructed for the project. Photo: AP/Wideworld Report points to detailing flaws and concrete curing issues in girder collapse. A 4.2-meter-long cantilevered segment collapsed when crews with Gammon India, Mumbai, used
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