Two contractors face proposed combined penalties of $691,000 following a partial building collapse in which a worker lost his legs.
The contractors – Northstar Contracting Group Inc. and general contractor Suffolk Construction – have been issued citations by the U.S. Occupational Safety Administration for the incident May 4, which occurred during a demolition and asbestos-removal project in South Boston.
The companies “failed to ensure adequate demolition and asbestos safeguards for their employees,” OSHA says. The workers exposed to dangers were employed by Northstar, and Suffolk is the general contractor on the project.
"The employers in this case exposed employees to the immediate hazard of structural collapse and the potential long-term consequences of asbestos exposure,” says OSHA Area Director James Mulligan in Braintree, Massachusetts. “These hazards are preventable, and employers can control and eliminate them. Had they ensured proper planning – including engineering surveys and frequent and regular jobsite inspections, effective safety procedures, personal protective equipment and employee training – was in place, this incident and the violations that followed might have been avoided."
Both Northstar and Suffolk are contesting the violations and penalties.
The incident occurred May 4 when a concrete mezzanine platform on a west wall of the former Boston Edison power plant, built in 1898, collapsed. A demolition robot was working on the platform. The platform collapsed on three workers, pinning the legs of one of them for three hours under a pile of debris, according to news reports. Both his legs were amputated. The other two were removed soon after the collapse and were also injured.
Demolition and asbestos debris was being stored on the platform, and the asbestos was not being removed to the on-site asbestos trailers at the end of work shifts, according to the OSHA Northstar citation. Gaylord boxes filled with asbestos waste and demolition debris were left on top of the mezzanine platform for multiple days.
