Dive Brief:
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Louisiana contractor Great Southern Building Systems LLC, dba Bayou Steel Fabricators Inc., for one willful and two serious safety violations in connection with a concrete form collapse that resulted in a worker's death. OSHA also fined Great Southern $79,800.
- OSHA said general contractor Gary Berthelot, of Berthelot Design Systems, was trapped and killed by falling concrete as he and three Great Southern employees installed additional supports underneath a concrete form. According to OSHA, the collapse occurred at a Kiln, MS, restaurant being repaired post-Hurricane Isaac.
- Although OSHA cited both Berthelot Design and Great Southern, the agency waived the citation and fines for Berthelot Design as Berthelot was the only employee.
Dive Insight:
An investigation by OSHA determined that the restaurant's original flooring plans specified a wood floor. However, the contractors used concrete instead without getting new engineering plans, and the design could not accommodate the weight of the concrete.
OSHA said Great Southern's willful citation was for leaving workers open to being struck-by the concrete form and associated material, because the formwork was not built to handle that kind of load.
The agency also said Great Southern's serious citations were for not installing the concrete formwork to support the concrete floor as it was poured. The citations also cover the company not having engineering plans for the concrete floor on the jobsite.
"Great Southern Building Systems LLC, failed in its responsibility to protect its employees, despite being warned that the floor was unstable," Eugene Stewart, director of OSHA's Jackson Area Office, said. "This tragedy could have been prevented had the employer obtained new engineering plans and followed the requirements."
This kind of disregard for safety was also cited in a four-story wall collapse that killed six people in a Philadelphia Salvation Army store and injured others. The two demolition contractors responsible were recently sentenced to prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and causing a catastrophe. Prosecutors allege that the contractors ignored warnings about trying to demolish the unsupported wall and accused one of removing support beams and joists and selling them prior to the collapse.
OSHA provides a concrete and masonry construction standard and features it as a safety topic on its website.