When you’re a construction worker, your safety is of the utmost importance. You provide a necessary service to the public, and there’s no reason that you should have to suffer injuries due to safety violations or other concerns.
When a company doesn’t take safety serious, people can get hurt or killed. Take for instance this company in Detroit that was in the news for four serious violations. The company, Adamo Industrial Services, faces penalties ranging from $7,000 to $28,000 for violations including failing to de-energize an electrical power line.
The accident itself occurred when a large cable coal bridge belt collapsed, killing the president of the company and seriously injuring an employee at the scene. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that there had been no information on the possibility of an unplanned collapse and what would happen in that case in the engineering survey addressing the demolition of the bridge.
Before the demolition, pre-burning cuts were made on the north leg of the park side tower. The strength reduction this caused was not accounted for or determined before the action was taken. A competent person was not inspecting the pre-burning operation, either, which is a violation due to exposing employees to crushed-by and struck-by hazards.
In Columbus, Ohio, OSHA has determined that those violations did take place, more than likely causing the injury and death that occurred; they otherwise would not have. The federal safety agency pointed out how this was an accident that did not need to take place; proper planning and procedures would have likely shown the risks before the demolition began.
Source: Marietta Times, “Construction company cited for Dec. death,” Sam Shawver, July 16, 2016