The Occupational Safety and Health Administration slapped Galasso Trucking & Rigging with hefty fines for two “serious” violations related to lax safety procedures that caused the deadly crane collapse in Tribeca earlier this year.
BY COLIN MIXSON
Federal safety inspectors are holding crane operators responsible for the deadly Tribeca collapse that killed a man in February.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration slapped Galasso Trucking & Rigging with fines totaling $22,448 for two “serious” violations related to lax safety procedures that resulted in the 565-foot crane toppling onto Worth Street earlier this year.
Labor Dept. inspectors found that the crane operators failed to modify their operation in response to the high winds that day, and that the hoist’s boom was lowered below the 75-degree limit specified by the manufacturer. Operators had dropped the boom to a parlous 69.4-degree angle before it fell over on Feb. 5.
Following the collapse that claimed one life and injured three, the city’s Department of Buildings has taken steps to curb the chance of future collapses, including banning that type of “crawler” crane from operating on city streets — banishing them to off-street worksites and forbidding their operation in winds exceeding 20 mph.
The Buildings Dept. also requires crawler cranes to have a lift director on site with the authority to shutdown crane operations in the event of adverse weather conditions.
Galasso Trucking & Rigging, which is challenging the violations, did not return calls for comment.
