Dive Brief:
- A federal inspection of the jobsite of an Idaho hangar that collapsed while under construction, killing three workers and injuring eight others, has resulted in over $200,000 in initial fines for two contractors on the project, the Department of Labor announced Monday.
- OSHA said it found evidence that Meridian, Idaho-based Big D Builders Inc. did not follow regulations when erecting the hangar at a Boise airfield, leaving many critical connecting bolts loose and using straps to straighten spans as opposed to installing additional bracing or temporary guy lines per steel erection standards.
- The agency also claims the contractor failed to train workers properly on how to construct steel spans and allowed cranes and other heavy equipment to operate in mud and standing water, which exposed workers to risk of the equipment overturning.
Dive Insight:
The hangar at Boise Airport collapsed on Jan. 31, resulting in the deaths of Mariano Coc Och, 32, Mario Sontay Tsi, 24, and Craig Durrant, 59. Durrant was the co-founder of Big D Builders.
Tsi and Och’s families filed suit against the builders earlier this month, claiming Big D Builders and local firms Steel Building Systems, Inland Crane and Speck Steel conspired to rapidly finish the project with insufficiently safe and effective materials.
OSHA inspectors determined Big D Builders had begun erecting the hangar without sufficient bracing or tensioned guy wires. The contractor also allegedly ignored indications that the structure was unstable, such as curved beams and unbalanced cables.
As a result, Big D Builders faces one willful violation and three serious violations, totaling $198,586 in initial penalties.
“Big D Builders’ blatant disregard for federal safety regulations cost three workers their lives and caused at least eight others to suffer painful injuries,” OSHA Area Director David Kearns in Boise, Idaho, said in the release. “The company’s irresponsible construction methods left the aircraft hangar’s structure extremely vulnerable.”
Big D Builders did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment by the time of publication.
OSHA also cited Boise-based Inland Crane Inc., the crane contractor on the project, with one serious safety violation, proposing an initial fine of $10,163.
“OSHA recently informed Inland Crane that their investigation confirms our initial assessment that neither Inland Crane employees nor equipment were responsible for the hangar collapse,” said the company statement. “Inland Crane extends its deepest condolences to all those affected by this tragic incident.”
The companies have 15 business days to respond by paying, asking for an informal meeting or contesting the fines.
