|
Coroner IDs ironworker found dead after Normal crane collapse
(The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 24--NORMAL -- A 33-year-old Mason County construction worker died Wednesday when a crane collapsed onto a raised basket in which he was working at a north Normal construction site.
Josh M. Dawe, an iron worker for Area Erectors, was killed about 10:30 a.m. at the site of the Wildwood Indus-tries building under construction at North Main Street and East Kerrick Road, McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling said in a prepared statement.
"Upon their arrival, rescue personnel observed an individual in the basket of an aerial lift who had no obvious signs of life," Kimmerling said.
There had been reports at first of at least three people trapped, but Dawe, father of an infant, was the only casu-alty. Other workers were assessed for injuries at the scene, but none was taken to the hospital, Kimmerling said.
Neither Kimmerling nor Deputy Coroner David Killian was able to reach Dawe until Normal firefighters were able to secure the scene. Because of that delay, Dawe was pronounced dead officially at the scene slightly after 12:30 p.m.
Preliminary evidence indicates that while girders and joists were being set for the sprawling building's roof, the boom of the crane collapsed onto the basket of the aerial lift, trapping Dawe, Kimmerling said.
The mangled crane came to rest on the building's steel-beam roof framework after ripping a hole in a concrete wall on the south side of the structure.
The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined, Kimmerling said.
Normal and Hudson fire crews and Normal and McLean County sheriff's police responded to the accident.
Occupational Health and Safety Administration employees were at the accident site Wednesday, said Barry Salerno, acting area director of OSHA's Peoria office. OSHA and Normal police are working with Kimmerling's office in the investigation.
At the scene, construction workers were visibly shaken as they cleared the way for emergency workers. As people arrived on the site following the accident, several exchanged hugs and words of concern with the other workers.
About the construction site
Bloomington-based Wildwood makes vacuum cleaner bags, carpet and upholstery cleaner, steam cleaning machines and Triton brand vacuum cleaners, according to its Web site. Its new facility, under construction just east of the intersection of Main and Kerrick and north of the Nussbaum Trucking property, mainly will operate as a logistics center, including processing parts.
The subcontractor managing crane operations at the site was Area Erectors, said Bill Johnston with Bloomington-based general contractor Johnston Contractors Inc. He declined further comment.
Area Erectors, which has a home office in Rockford and others throughout Illinois and Wisconsin, handles pre-cast concrete and steel erection for general contractors, according to its Web site.
Office workers at Area Erectors offices in Rockford and Peoria said Wednesday afternoon that no one was available for comment. Company officials were at the site of the accident as part of an investigation, they said.
A staffer said the company would release a statement at the conclusion of that investigation.
Safety checks
Wednesday's fatal accident comes on the heels of several other fatal crane collapses across the U.S. that have put extra scrutiny on crane safety.
Four workers were killed in a collapse Friday in Houston, and there have been other incidents in Miami and Las Vegas. In New York City, two crane accidents since March have killed nine people -- a greater number than the total deaths from cranes over the previous decade.
Employers are required to inspect machinery on a daily basis for general working condition, such as checking cables, Salerno said. Employers also are required to have a detailed annual certified inspection following American National Standards Institute guidelines, Salerno said.
He declined to comment on the general safety of cranes, but said OSHA inspects equipment if OSHA representatives are on a construction site for another reason, a complaint is filed or an accident occurs, Salerno said.
Employers are required to notify OSHA within eight hours of a fatality, Salerno said.
In the past 10 years, Area Erectors has had 30 investigations, most of which were planned visits, according to OSHA's Web site. Out of those cases, 11 violations were issued.
This incident is not the Twin Cities' first construction site fatality.
Broeren Russo of Champaign was the subcontractor at the construction site of the parking garage near where Hovey Avenue intersects Main and Kingsley streets. A 24-year-old Houston, Texas, man died in December 2004 after concrete slabs fell and crushed him.
Ryan Denham contributed to this report.
To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
