CLEVELAND — Federal investigators say a Cleveland construction company overloaded a crane last October, causing tons of steel beams to crash down, crushing a parking garage under construction.
An OSHA spokesperson says Donley’s Inc. was a subcontractor hired to do masonry and carpentry work on the Lumen Apartments construction project on Playhouse Square.
In a statement to 5 On Your Side Investigators, OSHA said Donley’s “controlled and created the hazard related to the dropped load.”
This week the company received notification of the penalties for three “serious” violations.
Those include violations for loading rigging equipment in excess of its rated capacity, not ensuring the nylon straps used to lift the beams were free of burns, melting, snags or worn stitches, and for failing to ensure no employees were working on the ground directly below the load.
Investigators say a crane was lifting six steel support beams from the 34th floor when the beams fell to the street area below.
Amazingly, no one was injured.
OSHA has proposed a $39,780 fine.
In a statement to News 5 a spokesperson for Donley's said, "Safety is our number one priority at Donley’s. It is at the core of all of our values. We received correspondence from OSHA this morning and we are now in the process of reviewing the documentation. We plan to request an informal conference with OSHA next week to discuss the next steps."
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