A crane accident gone wrong takes the life of Mikey Simermeyer, a 30-year-old rebar laborer who worked for J&E Industries LLC. Simermeyer was killed when the 160-ft-long lattice boom of a Manitowoc 4100 crawler crane, which Yonkers operated, came crashing down suddenly onto the job-site.
After an investigation of the accident, it became apparent that wire rope supporting the boom of the crane was wearing out. There was no load on the hook at the time of the crane accident.
Throughout the days leading to the accident, according to witnesses, the crane was making unusual noises, and no one either reported the crane's behavior or took action. Still, the crane had passed inspections before the accident, and the faulty wire rope was never detected.
Federal regulations require all construction cranes to be inspected each shift, monthly and annually.
In this case unfortunately, inspections were missed or not done properly on the crane, and responsible parties "negligently allowed the said crane to be falsely certified" months prior to the accident. A full inspection "would have revealed defects in its hoisting system and cables," the complaint alleges.
Construction manager Yonkers Contracting Co., received 10 serious citations and fines totaling $68,000 for violating U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, including failure to inspect wire rope prior to each shift.
J&E was fined $7,000 for a serious violation of failing to ensure riggers were qualified. It settled with OSHA this past March for $4,500.
The wrongful death case was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York and included the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit Authority, the City of New York, Hudson Yards Development Corp. and Manitowoc Crane Group as defendants.
In the end, the Simermeyer family was awarded $1 million for the wrongful death of their son. Liberty Mutual settled the case on behalf of construction manager Yonkers Contracting Co.
Keywords: Crane Accident; Fatal; New York City; Crawler Crane; Yonkers Contracting; OSHA, wrongful death
