In April, a tower crane being dismantled suddenly collapsed onto an open street in Seattle, Washington killing 2 workers and 2 civilians. Recent violations issued by the state of Washington have confirmed theories that prematurely removed pins were to blame for the incident.
The Seattle Time has reported that 3 separate companies were handed fines from the Washington State Labor & Industries (L&I) group, which handles public safety issues in the state:
The supplier of the crane was slapped with a willful violation for $70,000 for failing to ensure that the person overseeing the crane dismantling followed manufacturer’s instructions.
The general contractor was fined $25,200 across 3 serious violations
The contractor responsible for dismantling the crane was also given 3 serious violations, but only fined $12,000
When a tower crane is being dismantled, it is removed in sections held together by metal pins. Presumably to save time, some contractors remove all of the pins at once, instead of removing them section by section as the second crane hooks onto them.
"This tragic event must not be repeated," said L&I Director Joel Sacks in a press release. "We expect all companies to follow manufacturers' procedures and have a single point of authority overseeing crane assembly or disassembly. There has to be one person on site who knows the rules and is in charge."
In June, L&I issued a crane hazard alert to make sure contractors followed manufacturer’s instructions for assembling and dismantling cranes and that the pins were only removed for the specific section that is being lifted.
The money from the citations is placed in a fund to help injured workers and families of victims killed on the job, according to L&I.
Full story: Labor & Industries cites three employers for multiple violations connected with fatal Seattle crane collapse | Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
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