In New York City construction is booming. You’d be hard pressed to find many areas throughout the five boroughs that don’t show some evidence of new or ongoing construction. Dodging construction sites can be difficult and even impossible depending on where you are. That is precisely why it is so crucial for contractors to take all necessary precautions to keep their employees and the pedestrians/cyclists/motorists in the area safe.
When contractors fail to take necessary precautions, the consequences can be deadly. On Saturday, April 27th 2019, four people died in Seattle when a crane collapsed on a busy city street. Preliminary reports show the collapse was due to human error.
Human error may be to blame for the Seattle crane collapse on Saturday that killed four people and injured four others, experts said Monday.
Based on videos of the collapse, experts believe the workers who disassembled the construction crane removed pins holding sections of the crane together too soon.
“The reason this tower fell over is ironworkers and the people working on it did not follow the manufacturer’s instructions for disassembling the crane,” said South Carolina crane accident investigator Tom Barth. “If the pins had been in, that crane would not have fallen over.” –USA TODAY
Our hearts go out to the families of the two iron workers, retired city employee and college freshman who tragically lost their lives in the Seattle crane collapse. We hope law makers and industry leaders will carefully review the events that lead to this tragedy, and will take all necessary precautions to ensure more lives aren’t lost.
The experienced construction accident lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers understand better than most the risks construction workers face.