Companies Cited After Bridge Collapse Killed One Worker and Injured Another
The collapse was caused by a portion of the bridge that was overstressed.
- By Alex Saurman
- May 12, 2022
Two companies are now being cited after a bridge collapse injured two workers.
According to a press release, workers were dismantling a bridge over the Yellow River in Georgia when a portion became overstressed and collapsed.
One worker was injured and hospitalized. Another worker was struck by a more-than-1,700-pound concrete saw and fatally injured. Both workers were employees of B&D Concrete Cutting Inc. of Atlanta.
OSHA cited B&D and Georgia Bridge and Concrete LLC of Tucker, Georgia, for not having a "competent person" conduct an engineering survey and for not ensuring that procedures were in place to avoid overstressing parts of the bridge, per the press release. Proposed penalties for B&D total $25,669 and $31,283 for Georgia Bridge and Concrete.
“If the employers had conducted a proper survey on this highly technical project as required, the tragic loss of one worker and serious injuries to another may not have happened,” said OSHA Area Office Director Joshua Turner in Atlanta-East in the press release. “Established safety standards exist to ensure workers get home safely and don’t leave families, friends and communities to grieve a preventable fatality.”
About the Author
Alex Saurman is a former Content Editor for Occupational Health & Safety,who has since joined OH&S’s client services team. She continues to work closely with OH&S’s editorial team and contributes to the magazine.