Friday, February 1, 2013

Operator and contractor at fault in crane collapse

From Crain's:

A crane operator and a contractor didn't inspect equipment, failed to take proper precautions and ran the rig unsafely before it collapsed while building a New York City apartment tower and injured seven construction workers, officials said Wednesday.

Crane operator Paul Geer and contractor Cross Country Construction have each been cited with five violations stemming from the Jan. 9 collapse, which occurred as the crane tried to lift more than double its capacity, the city Buildings Department said. Mr. Geer and the company each face at least $64,000 in fines; the developer and a site safety manager also were cited with a violation apiece.

The developer, TF Cornerstone, and site safety manager Arthur Covelli have been cited with failing to safeguard people and property during construction, a single violation that carries at least $2,400 in fines, officials said.

Buildings Department records showed crane work at the site remained halted Wednesday, but TF Cornerstone said it believed the stop-work order and violation were being resolved. The company has said "site safety is always our first priority."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what happens now...
do they both get off with just a slap on the wrist?

NYC's construction industry is all MOBBED up!

Both perps will walk on this, thanks to some slick mafia motor mouthed lawyer.

Anonymous said...

we need mandatory jail times.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the owner of the crane (JL Lomma) has what is known as captured regulators who are there to fault everyone but the owner himself.

All the big crane accidents in the last, oh, say 10 years were with Lomma's cranes.

Google him, he's a real upstanding citizen.