OSHA Cites Contractors in Ft. Lauderdale Crane Fatality
Editors note: This article has been updated.
Phoenix Rigging & Erecting and Maxim Crane Works have been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in connection with the collapse of a tower crane that killed a 27-year-old rigger at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, residential site in April.
OSHA investigators learned that two workers employed by Phoenix Rigging were installing a section on the tower crane to increase its height when a support cable failed and the platform on which they stood became displaced. One worker, who was wearing the required fall protection and tied off, was rescued. Another worker, whose lanyard was not connected to an anchor point, was fatally injured.
Phoenix Rigging, Mableton, Georgia, was cited for three serious violations for failing to:
- Identifying and replacing or otherwise repair corroded and cracked pins or bolts designed to secure the crane’s climbing frame and apply end connections properly.
- Ensuring the use of fall protection equipment.
- Conducting pre-inspections of crane components before allowing employees to start work, and ensure cranes were inspected properly by a qualified person for damage or excessive wear.
Maxim Crane Works, Canonsburgh, Pennsylvania, was cited for two serious violations for failing to:
- Observing deficiencies to significantly corroded and cracked pins and bolts, and improperly applying end connections.
- Allowing employees to start work without conducting pre-inspections of crane components, including but not limited to U-bolt clamps, bolts, pins, thimbles and wire ropes, to ensure those were inspected adequately by a qualified person for damage or excessive wear.
A worker was killed when two sections of a tower crane fell from a building in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 5, 2024. News reports say the worker fell with one section that landed on the ground next to the building.
The second section landed on a bridge. Two cars on the bridge were crushed by the section of crane, but none of the three occupants was killed. Two were taken a local medical center, and the third refused treatment, according to news reports.
Left. Video published on X from BBC News shows the moment a driver escaped being crushed by pieces of the collapsed crane that killed one person and injured three others.
ABC 10 interviewed the uninjured driver of one of the cars, Mark Cerezin. He describes the section shearing off the front of his Tesla, bouncing, and landing on the car next to him. The report also shows the crane section being lifted off the bridge, and crews repairing the bridge deck. The bridge will remain closed until an inspection deems it safe.
Fort Lauderdale Chief Stephen Gollan said the accident occurred as workers were “stepping the crane,” the process in which the tower is raised and sections are added to it.
Following the incident, a woman injured when a section of a tower crane fell onto the car she was in has filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million. According to a report on NBC6, attorneys for Gemmalyn Castillo say she has been diagnosed with brain and psychological damage as a result of the accident.
Castillo was riding in the back of a Tesla when the crane section fell on a bridge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Tesla was being used as a ride-share, and the driver jumped out and ran from the scene after being hit. According to a news conference held by her lawyers, Castillo was knocked unconscious. Upon awaking, she was able to exit the vehicle and was aided by paramedics on the scene.
