JDC Demolition Co. has been fined $1.2 million as a result of the death of an excavator operator on March 26, 2022, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which levied the fine.
The operator was in an 11,000-pound excavator working on the eighth floor of a garage in downtown Boston when the partially demolished floor collapsed. The operator died in the 80-foot fall. According to OSHA, it was the employee’s first day on the job.
“JDC Demolition Company Inc. knew the heavy equipment on the partially demolished floors were over the weight limits and still allowed a worker, unaware of the hazards, to do demolition work,” said Galen Blanton, OSHA regional administrator in Boston, in a prepared statement. “This willful and egregious disregard for safety cost a workers’ life and exposed other employees to potentially fatal hazards.”
OSHA found that the Brockton-based contractor failed to “adequately train its workers on the demolition plan and safety management system to help them recognize and avoid unsafe conditions.”
It also cited the company for imposing unsafe loads, in the form of heavy equipment, on the partially demolished seventh, eighth, and ninth floors. It said the demolition plan prohibited the placement of heavy equipment on partially demolished floor bays.
In addition to the fine, OSHA cited JDC for eight egregious-willful violations, two serious violations, and one other than serious violation of workplace safety standards. The willful citations address the training and loading violations; the serious and other than serious violations are regarding the inadequate accident prevention program, uncovered floor holes, and insufficient record keeping.
The general contractor, John Moriarty and Associates, was also cited and fined $58,008. The four serious violations included:
- Partially demolished precast concrete floors were of sufficient strength to support the imposed load of mechanical equipment.
- Employees were trained to recognize and avoid overloading of floors during demolition.
- Cover or secure floor holes.
- A competent person had adequately inspected the job site during demolition.
Source: OSHA
