OSHA fines company in workers’ fall on Cowboys’ stadium roof
May 3, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: Bizarre Accident of the Week, Falls, In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, Who Got Fined and Why?
A subcontractor faces an OSHA fine in connection with an incident on the roof of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium that seriously injured two workers.
OSHA cited Birdair, Inc., of Amherst, NY, for the incident in which two workers slid about 260 feet down the side of the domed roof. One of the workers suffered head and chest trauma and a broken leg. The other hurt his back.
Birdair faces $45,000 in fines for:
- one willful violation for employees not wearing the correct fall protection equipment, and
- one serious violation for workers not trained about hazards associated with falls.
Birdair says it will contest the citations.
An OSHA spokeswoman told the Star-Telegram that the workers were wearing fall protection gear, but it wasn’t tied off in accordance with OSHA standards.
The injured men were among employees finishing work on the stadium’s fabric roof panels.
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May 4th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Apparently these guys were trained enough to know they should wear fall protection gear, so why is it the employer’s fault if they didn’t hook onto something. When is OSHA going to assign at least a degree of responsibility on the employee. At my facility, the guys think it’s a great joke when the employer gets a fine say for the worker no storing his respirator properly, or not putting the guards down on a machine. As safety manager, I can only do so much and until some accountability is directed toward the employee, they will always play fast and loose with the system. This is so frustrating..
May 5th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
A bit off topic - but I saw that you have had fines (sheralroh) for a mechanic not putting a m/guard down.
At my company we installed magnet sensors (inexpensive) that are connected electrically to the motors.
If the guard is not down (magnetic switch not touching opposing end) the machine will not start as the circuit is not complete.
Just a thought.
Back on topic:
As a human, father, husband I value all of the safety rules.
Some may seen teidous but, one mistake….
The employee should be responsible…but at the same time some amout of responsibility should go to the employer as it is their responsibility to ensure worker safety. While you cannot put “magnet sensors” on an employee you can view their actions. Have procedures in place that alert you that someone is gearing to scale a roof that would allow for someone to be responsible to check their gear and attachements.
Just another thought
May 11th, 2010 at 8:25 am
The employer is the one who has to hold the employee responsible for following company policies and procedures. Just like OSHA holds employers respnsible for following their policies.
May 11th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I don’t know what documented training the company had on record, but telling someone to wear fall protection doesn’t qualify as training. There isn’t enough information here to make a clear conclusion. On one hand the superintendent may have just told the guys to put on fall protection and left it at that. He may not have provided fall protection training, the guys may not have known how to use the gear, when to use the gear or might not have had anything reasonable to clip onto. On the other hand, the workers might have been trained and knew better, but felt the straps interfered with the work. I simply don’t have enough information to conclude. However, as long as OSHA is tracking a company’s accident record, why not track a worker’s worker comp records? An employer can then look at this record and determine the risk associated with this person. Does the worker have a lot of accidents? Does he or she try to milk the system or just clumsy? If the workers are interested in staying gainfully employed and be capable of getting hired, then this will put safety to the forefront of their minds.
May 11th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
As pointed out, there isn’t enough information available to know where the fault truly belongs. And I agree there should a certain amount of responsibility with the employee.
Living deep in the heart of Dallas Cowboy territory I know there was a lot of anticipation about the completion of this stadium. There were also lots of news blurbs about it. One thing that should be noted is that it (Like many big construction projects) was behind schedule of the original completion deadline(s) and there was a lot of pressure on the contractors to get it finished. When there is so much pressure to meet certain deadlines it is easy to skip (not excusable though) what is considered “minor” safety precautions in the need for speed!
May 11th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
At what point of standing on the top of the new stadium roof does a superintendent have to hold a workers hand. If they were up there they knew it could be a fall situation. I am sorry but I get tired of workers claimed they did not know. If you are standing on a dome several hundred feet in the air you know it can be a dangerous place. This type of fall usually is the fault of the worker doing something he knows he shouldnt. ex: untying to get something just out of reach.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
I am an ironworker and have worked in that field birdair is in and one thing i do know (withoutknowin cause i wasnt there) is most of the comp that do this work use mountain climbing gear and harnesses which are not proper for fall protection.
and if they did have the proper fall protection avaliable where they using it properly its more then just hooking off on something TIM its acceabilty of your work,has the comp provided all the eq. to safely do your job and still make the comp. MONEY which alot of comp dont think about till some one falls and dies or gets hurt then they say we have a safety program he (the worker) didnt follow it,i myself have been on the recieving end of that myself unsafe conditions and the bottom line result in injury and death and i also have seen folks that are just not smart and take chances and short cuts but thats where proper supervision by a qualified forman can catch and correct even if it means termanation of that person.
Its a team effort from the worker to the supervision to the comp.