Companies fined in steel truss collapse
Two companies responsible for erecting the giant steel truss that collapsed and killed one worker at the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center have been fined by the federal government.
Pittsburgh-based Dick Corp. and ADF International Inc., of Montreal, have been cited for three violations at the job site and fined $19,000 each after the federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration completed a six-month investigation into the accident.
A 165-ton, three-story steel truss collapsed Feb. 12, killing Paul Corsi Jr., 37, of Moon Township, and injuring two other workers.
Corsi was a steelworker with Dick Corp., which was responsible for construction at the Downtown convention center site. ADF International is the steel fabricator.
The companies were notified Wednesday by OSHA that they were each found to be in "serious" violation of monitoring the job site, using the right nuts on the truss and not thoroughly tightening the nuts. Neither company was found to have committed "willful," or "repeated" violations, which are higher violations than "serious."
Roger Peters, senior vice president and secretary of Dick Corp., said the company still is reviewing the citations.
"We hope to meet with OSHA representatives and work out a resolution. We do want to work with them on this," he said. "That is our company policy."
Peters said such citations have been dismissed and the fines reduced in the past.
A company representative from ADF International did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Both companies have 15 days to contest the citations and penalties through litigation. However, if either company does not contest the citations, they must then file paperwork showing that the hazard was corrected and pay the fines in full.
According to the citations written by Robert Szymanski, area director of OSHA, neither company had a designated person making frequent inspections of the job site, materials or equipment. Also, there were no inspections on the steel truss to ensure that the correct nuts were being used, the citations said.
The companies are being cited for not maintaining structural stability by using improper one-inch nuts in place of the prescribed two-inch nuts on the truss. Additionally, the improper nuts used on the truss were not drawn up wrench-tight.
All 15 of the trusses have been installed at the construction site. The expanded convention center is scheduled to be completed in 2003 and is expected to cost $331 million.
"I don't want to pass judgment on what occurred there," said Stephen Leeper, executive director of the Sports & Exhibition Authority, which owns the convention center. He said his "gut feeling" was that OSHA did not see evidence of anything more than human error.
"If there's any violation, it was one that was sort of unintended."
Leeper also said he was confident the convention center is safe. "I go in it all the time."
A coroner's inquest was held into the death of Corsi, but Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht has not released its findings. Witnesses testified during the inquest that human error and improper materials were to blame for the fatal collapse.
Paul Corsi Sr., the father of the victim, declined comment yesterday.
