Region 4 News Release:   USDOL: 01-121
07/19/01
Contact: William A. Burke
Phone: (205) 731-1534

OSHA CITES ALABAMA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND PROPOSES OVER $85,000 IN PENALTIES

WALNUT GROVE, Ala. - The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today cited Clark Construction Company, Inc., for alleged serious and willful safety violations with proposed penalties totaling $85,400 following the investigation of a Feb. 2 fatal accident at a Thompson Bridge Road construction site.

On the day of the fatality, four of the bridge construction company employees were removing a 21-foot section from an 80-foot link-belt crane boom. As one employee -- standing underneath the crane -- pounded out a pin, the boom collapsed and fell on him.

The company was issued a willful citation with a proposed penalty of $63,000 for not properly supporting the crane, which was about six feet off the ground.

"Had this employer followed the manufacturer's instructions and OSHA regulations regarding the dismantling of the crane, this fatality would have been avoided," said William A. Burke, OSHA's Birmingham acting area director.

OSHA also cited the company for two alleged serious safety violations with proposed penalties totaling $11,200 for failing to inspect the crane each day prior to its use to assure that it was in safe operating condition, and for failing to properly train employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions.

The company received an additional $11,200 proposed penalty for a repeat violation: failing to barricade the accessible rear-swing-radius area of the crane cab so employees could not enter that space and risk being crushed as the cab turned. In 1999, OSHA cited the company for a similar violation and that citation became a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The Headland, Ala.-based company has 15 work days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Birmingham, Ala., office located at Todd Mall, 2047 Canyon Rd.; phone: (205) 731-1534.