MA Company Cited Following Worker Death During Demolition Project
The worker and an excavator fell 80 feet after a floor collapsed.
- By Alex Saurman
- Oct 04, 2022
A worker for a Massachusetts-based company died on their first day at work. Now, the company faces proposed penalties of over $1.1 million.
According to a news release, the employee, a heavy equipment operator, was working for JDC Demolition Company on the demolition of a garage in Boston. The worker, along with an 11,000-pound excavator, were on the eighth level when the floor collapsed, causing the worker and the equipment to fall 80 feet.
Before the incident, a worker on another floor raised concerns to the company over the safety of the floor, OSHA said, but the worker who later died was still tasked to work. Allegedly, no safety briefings and training on “the engineer’s demolition plan” were given to the worker, per the news release.
"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 OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton in Boston in the news release. "This willful and egregious disregard for safety cost a workers’ life and exposed other employees to potentially fatal hazards."
JDC Demolition Company. Inc., was cited for eight willful violations for training and loading and two serious and one other than serious violation for “inadequate accident prevention program, uncovered floor holes and insufficient recordkeeping,” OSHA said. Penalties were also proposed for the company, totaling $1,191,292.
The general contractor for the project, John Moriarty and Associates Inc., was also cited after the incident. The company received four serious violations for not ensuring the floor strength could hold equipment, workers received training for floor overloading, holes were covered and inspections took place “during demolition,” according to the news release. OSHA proposed $58,008 in penalties.
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.