Superior Construction Co: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jul 10, 1989 (fatal): Fall from structure

Employee #1 was walking on the south side of a structural steel heat exchanger s upport tower approximately 75 ft above the ground. He was getting ready to signa l the crane operator to lift a heat exchanger from the ground to its place on to p of the 75 ft structure. Employee #1 fell between the 13 ft 8 in. wide by 12 ft 6 in. long opening in the steel beams. Employee #1 received fatal injuries when he landed on the handrail angle steel of a heat exchanger walkway platform sitt ing on the ground.

Incident on Nov 29, 1984 (fatal): Employee killed in fall from pier

On the morning of November 29, 1984, two employees were assigned the task of bol ting up diaphragms to lateral girders at two piers. By lunch, they had completed both piers. After lunch they were told that the second pier should be redone wi th a larger sized bolt. Working from east to west, they changed the bolts on the diaphragms connecting the first and second and second and third girders and on the east end of the third, or center, diaphragm. In moving from the east end of the diaphragm to the west end, a distance of not more than 8 feet, one of the em ployees fell off the concrete pier cap surface to the concrete base, 21 feet, 6 inches below, and an additional 4 feet down to the river bank. He died of injuri es sustained in the fall. The surface from which he fell was 43 inches wide, dis sected lengthwise by the 10.5-in.-wide I-beam-shaped diaphragm, with 15 inches o f clearance under the diaphragm. This provided a working surface 16.5 in. wide o n both sides plus the open space under the diaphragm. Between the east and west points of the center diaphragm, the pier cap had an 8-inch step down, which coul d possibly have been a contributing factor to the fall.