Fmr. Iatan Crane Operators: Accident Was Inevitable.
The operators said a lot of lip service was given to safety.
Last Edited: Friday, 23 May 2008, 4:57 PM CDT
Created: Friday, 23 May 2008, 4:57 PM CDT
Kansas City News (Channel 4 News story) Related Items Stories Two former crane operators at the Iatan Two Plant said they both walked off the job last year after repeatedly complaining that not enough was being done to keep people from getting hurt. The men didn't operate the crane that tipped over on Friday, but they did operate other cranes on the Iatan job site. They agreed to talk to FOX 4 because they're upset. They said the company, Alstom Construction, had plenty of warnings there were serious safety problems, but ignored them. "The way things were going up there it was inevitable," said Greg Hurst, crane operator. Hurst and Mike Wimmer have been operating cranes more than 60 years. Both worked for Alstom on the Iatan Two site until last December. That's when they said they walked off the job because they didn't feel safe. "We had some issues with one of the cranes I was running," said Hurst. He said the gigantic boom on his crane would suddenly start moving without him controlling it. He said it was just one of the series of safety concerns he'd been having since he started working for AlstomConstruction at the Iatan Two Plant. "I told them I wasn't running it like that. It's not supposed to operate like that and their answer was we'll take you off of it and put somebodyelse on it," said Hurst. Who did they put on it? Mike. Mike said he had problems with the crane suddenly booming down for no reason. "That's pretty serious. Like if your car just takes off and goes where it wants to. It's not a good thing," said Wimmer. He said Alstom Construction Company wanted him to keep driving it anyway. "Go ahead and run it like it was, and, I said 'No.' I don't need it. I'm gone," said Wimmer. Both men said they walked off the job that same day. "As a crane operator, you are pressured into doing things you don't want to do sometimes and you have to draw that line," said Hurst. FOX 4 has calls into Alstom Construction. But, has not heard back. Kansas City Power & Light said it always has its safety experts on the construction site. But, the crane operators told FOX 4 they thought a lot of lip service was given to safety. But, there was no real action. Linda Wagar, FOX 4 News The above article indicates, through two former crane operators on the project, that the contractor doesn't have a good record of performing required safety inspections and fails to address safety items that are noted by the operators. If this proven the case, OSHA should come down hard on them for exposing all their workers on this site to dangers of unsafe lifting equipment. OSHA Standards clearly spell out the required DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY and ANNUAL inspections to cranes and requirements for recording these inspections. Also, it is required that unsafe items noted in these inspections be corrected IMMEDIATELY before the crane is placed back into service. This doesn't take much Horse Sense to follow these require ments instead of going the Donkey way and wind up getting workers killed on their job sites.