Crane operator cited in death of worker at Davidson job site, state inspectors say
State inspectors have cited a crane operator in the January death of a worker at an industrial site in Davidson, N.C. Department of Labor officials said Wednesday.
Indiana-based CraneWerks Inc. lacked standard procedures for keeping workers safely away when using a forklift to unload massive steel I-beams from a flatbed trailer, according to a copy of the citation obtained by The Charlotte Observer.
On July 12, the state issued a citation with a proposed $7,812 penalty against the company and gave CraneWerks 15 days to respond.
The Observer reached out to a company spokeswoman by phone and awaited a formal statement.
I-beam rolled onto worker, state says
CraneWerks employees were unloading two 40-foot-long, 8,788-pound I-beams with a forklift at a job site at 800 Beaty Street on Jan. 12, according to the citation. The I-beams became entangled on the truck as they were delivered to the site.
The employee who died was standing on the trailer beside one of the beams and was trying to guide the forklift operator on where to place the forks to lift the beam, officials said.
As the forklift operator lifted one of the beams to free it from the other, one of the beams rolled onto the worker, causing the employee and the beam to fall to the ground. The employee was not named in the citation.
CraneWerks was cited for one alleged serious violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina. Money penalties are included in the act, with $16,131 being the maximum penalty for each serious violation, said Erin Wilson, communications director for the N.C. Department of Labor.
“The General Statutes say the Labor Department has to take into consideration various factors such as the gravity of the violations, the size of the business, the good faith of the employer, and history of previous violations,” Wilson said in an email.
“The penalties are in no way designed to make up for the loss of life,” Wilson said.
