Meridian, Idaho, building contractor Big D Builders Inc. faces $198,586 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after an airport hangar collapsed near the Boise Airport, killing three workers and injuring at least eight others, the agency announced July 29.
OSHA investigators responded to the scene and discovered that Big D Builders had begun erecting the hangar without using sufficient bracing or tensioned guy wires. They also learned that the contractor had ignored numerous indications that the structure was unstable, including visibly curved, bent, and wavy structural I-beams; unbalanced columns; and several snapped wire rope cables.
Agency inspectors determined that Big D Builders continued to add 150-foot-long bays to the football field-size project. OSHA found that the bays were visibly crooked and that the contractor left many critical connecting bolts loose. Rather than installing additional bracing or temporary guy lines per steel erection industry standards, the contractor used straps to straighten the additional spans.
“Big D Builders’ blatant disregard for federal safety regulations cost three workers their lives and caused at least eight others to suffer painful injuries,” David Kearns, OSHA’s Boise, Idaho, area office director, said in an agency statement.
OSHA investigators also found that the employer failed to train workers to properly construct steel spans and allowed cranes and other construction equipment to operate in mud and standing water, exposing workers to the risk of equipment overturning. The agency cited Big D Builders with one willful and three serious violations.
OSHA also cited Inland Crane Inc. of Boise with one serious safety violation and proposed $10,163 in penalties for exposing workers to collapse hazards due to failures to ensure stability during the hangar erection process.
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