Dive Brief:
- A Missouri construction worker was pronounced dead at the scene Thursday morning after he fell 23 stories at the Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel jobsite, The Kansas City Star reported.
- JE Dunn is the general contractor for the $325 million, 24-story hotel project, and the worker, whose name has not been released, was employed by a subcontractor, which was also not identified. "We are working closely with the employer of the deceased as well as the police as they investigate," a company spokesperson told Construction Dive via email. "Our thoughts are with the deceased’s family at this time. "
- OSHA has reportedly opened an investigation into the incident, which it has six months to complete. Though there were no known witnesses, some accounts of the incident state that the man actually fell from the 18th floor. JE Dunn told the Star that it didn’t know why he was on a higher floor at the time, as he had been stationed on the 8th.
Dive Insight:
Multiemployer jobsites are standard in construction, so when safety incidents occur, it can be difficult to determine which company is most responsible. Under its multiemployer citation policy, OSHA categorizes the employers onsite based on whether they created a hazardous condition, exposed workers to that condition, are responsible for correcting it and/or controlled the site with supervisory responsibility.
Recent court proceedings have set the precedent that general contractors, even if their employees are not affected by the event, can be cited for subcontractors' safety violations. While the details of the JE Dunn incident are not yet fully known, these decisions could play a role in how OSHA doles out blame.
An administrative judge for the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission's Denver office ruled in 2017 that Hensel Phelps could not be cited for safety hazards that one of its subs created on a library construction site in Austin, Texas. Subcontractor Haynes Eaglin Watters had hired another firm, CVI Development, which did not use sloping during excavation and created unstable conditions on a rainy day.
The Department of Labor appealed that decision and sent it to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which found Hensel Phelps liable. The contractor was slapped with $70,000 in fines as a "controlling employer," and CVI received $18,000 in penalties.
