Dive Brief:
- The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has fined four contractors a total of $86,800 in connection with a partial bridge collapse that killed a Bonney Lake, WA, family of three, the Seattle Times reported.
- Josh and Vanessa Ellis, along with their 8-month-old son, were crushed as they were driving underneath a bridge undergoing a partial demolition when concrete-cutting work led to a falling 110-foot concrete barrier, the Times reported.
- L&I said the demolition plan that contractor Staton Construction submitted for the project — which was not provided to its subcontractors working on the bridge the day of the collapse — required an outer wall of the bridge to be cut away in 8-10-foot lengths, while heavy equipment held each piece and flaggers blocked or diverted traffic below.
Dive Insight:
L&I found that Staton, general contractor WHH Nisqually Federal Services, concrete-cutting contractor Hamilton Construction and WHH’s subcontractor Highmark Concrete Contractors exposed workers to the risk of a sudden bridge collapse, as all four companies had employees on the bridge at the time of the collapse.
Staton, however, was fined the lion's share of the L&I penalty, $58,800, for one willful violation and two serious violations. Hamilton, which cut the concrete barrier that fell, was fined $14,700.
The citation L&I issued to Staton requires the demolition contractor to "inform all of their employees of the elements of the demolition plan so that they may conduct their work activity in a safe manner."
While there has recently been heightened attention to the issue of construction companies skirting safety guidelines and putting their workers in jeopardy, incidents resulting in the death of passersby and other non-workers brings even more public attention to possible contractor misconduct. In this case, an attorney has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and six companies involved in Pierce County Superior Court.