The crane company whose crane collapsed in Dallas this past Sunday, killing one person and injuring several others, had a history of safety citations and penalties.

The crane collapsed through four floors of an apartment building and injured five occupants in addition to killing Kiersten Symone Smith, a resident. The crane collapsed in the middle of a storm with strong winds, rain and hail though it was a Peiner SK 415 model which was designed to stand up to 95-mpg winds.

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/06/10/osha-cited-bigge-crane-company-safety-violations/

Since 2013 Bigge Crane and Rigging Company has received 17 different violations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) though they are still contesting some of those violations. In 2013 the company was involved in a fatal crane collapse in Arkansas where one person working for another company was killed and eight others were injured. They initially received nine serious violations and proposed penalties of $56,700, but that was reduced to four serious violations in addition to a $28,000 fine. The company has 74 cranes around the country.

In March of 2016 they received two other-than-serious violations and $8,000 in proposed penalties after an incident in which an employee was fatally injured when a motorist veered off the road shoulder and pinned him to his trailer while the employee was adjusting the load at the rear of his trailer. These citations and fines were deleted after a formal settlement conference. They are contesting nine serious and other-than-serious violations with proposed penalties totaling $56,525 after an August 2017 inspection. They contested a citation issued by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health in 2014 but that was affirmed by an administrative law judge in 2018, the judge also assigned a $10,000 penalty.

“The evidence supports a finding that Employer failed to ensure that a Division-licensed tower crane certified or surveyor or safety representation for the distributor or manufacturer of the fixed tower crane was at the site during erection, climbing and dismantling operations to ensure that such processes and operations were performed in accordance with manufacturers recommendations and applicable standards or orders,” the law judge stated. “The violation was properly classified as Serious. The violation was properly characterized as willful.”

The company supplied the crane and operator to this project and acted as an equipment rental provider, and the crane was not in service when it collapsed. They are cooperating with OSHA and their investigation.

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