OSHA Proposes $13,000 Penalty Over September Fatal Tower Incident
Tower company Tower King II faces a nearly $13,000 proposed penalty over an incident that killed three of the company’s employees during an antenna installation in Miami in September (see 1709280066), said a release Tuesday from the Occupational Safety and…
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Health Administration (OSHA). The incident was caused by the failure of a device that attaches to communications towers to hoist loads, called a gin pole system, OSHA said. A Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue spokesman told us the workers fell hundreds of feet in the collapse. “Investigators determined that the employer failed to ensure the capacity of the rigging attachments were adequate to support the forces imposed from hoisting loads,” the OSHA release said. The $12,934 penalty is the maximum allowed under the law, OSHA said. “This tragedy underscores the importance of having a qualified individual conduct an analysis before performing construction work on communication towers,” said Condell Eastmond, Fort Lauderdale OSHA office director, in the release. Tower King II told Communications Daily before the accident that it was heading to Florida for work related to the post-incentive auction repacking. Tower King II has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to pay the fine, request a meeting or contest the findings, the release said. Tower King II didn’t comment.