Copyright 1988 Newsday, Inc.  

Newsday (New York)
July 3, 1988, Sunday, CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5
Other Edition: Nassau and Suffolk Pg. 6

LENGTH: 2018 words

HEADLINE: 2 Deaths Prompt Safety Crackdown;
Citicorp project under scrutiny

BYLINE: By Ronald E. Roel

BODY:
One late afternoon last December, a laborer helping to load concrete panels on a truck at the site of the 48-story Citicorp building under construction in Long Island City was knocked into a 17-foot pit by a crane. Joseph Caliendo's neck was broken; the 49-year-old worker from Brooklyn died the next day at Elmhurst General Hospital.

Five days later, Anthony Tropicano, 44, was working on the Citicorp building's skeletal frame in the dim light of dawn when he picked up a piece of plywood. There was no floor underneath; he plunged 40 feet to the ground, suffered severe head injuries and died two days later.

While fatal accidents are not uncommon in big construction projects, the two deaths "are very high for one project," said James W. Stanley, administrator for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's New York region. Last year, there were a total of 22 deaths from construction accidents in New York City, according to OSHA records.

The deaths reflected serious underlying problems at the site of Queens' tallest building, OSHA officials said. The agency has fined subcontractors for violations it says contributed to the two deaths and an accident several weeks later that seriously injured three workers.

Those incidents prompted a flurry of union grievances and investigations by OSHA, general contractor Turner Construction Co., and several insurance companies. The actions led to an unusual agreement by the contractor to closely supervise safety practices at the site. As a result, officials say, safety at the site has improved considerably.

Since February, OSHA has cited various subcontractors for five serious violations in connection with the deaths and 35 other violations and levied fines of more than $ 11,000, although officials said the number of violations is not especially high for such a big project. At one point, the agency threatened to get a court injunction to stop work on a portion of the estimated $ 250-million, 1.3-million square feet project - which will be completed next year - unless Turner could guarantee the government that a subcontractor would comply with OSHA safety regulations.

While many of the serious violations have since been corrected, it has taken a special effort, OSHA officials say, to improve the safety of the site.

In particular, OSHA worked out an unusual agreement with Turner to help assure that the project's dozens of subcontractors would comply with safety standards.

"It's an active workplace, and we're spending a lot of time there," said Edward J. Scott, OSHA's Queens director. "We've got their attention now." OSHA officials say higher than normal inspections are continuing and there may be more citations coming as a result.

"Yes, there have been unfortunate accidents on the project, but we have immediately implemented any safety recommendations made by OSHA," said Jim Brown, a spokesman for Turner Construction, the largest general contractor in the United States.

OSHA investigators first inspected the Citicorp Court Square complex Dec. 9 - nine months after construction began - as part of the agency's program of scheduled inspections. In the past 10 years, OSHA has increasingly targeted its inspections toward the construction industry, which has the highest fatality rate of all major industry groups - 33 deaths per 100,000 workers in 1986, the latest year for which figures are available.

"Construction sites are constantly changing," said Catherine Jeffries, supervisor of OSHA's Queens office. "What looks splendid one day, may be a disaster another day - or even later the same day."

Just as OSHA was completing its scheduled inspections and uncovering some violations, the agency was called in by Turner to investigate Caliendo's death. On Dec. 17, Caliendo, who worked for Laquila Construction in Brooklyn for 14 years, had been working next to a crane when he was knocked over by the crane into an adjacent pit that was being dug as part of the building's foundation. Caliendo, who was married and has three children, died the next day.

Tropicano, a laborer with Century-Maxim Construction Corp., based i> Port Chester, N.Y., was working on the building's fourth-floor when, he plunged to the ground. Tropicano, who police said lived at 1469 E. 49th St. in Brooklyn, died on Christmas Eve at Elmhurst General.

Again, OSHA came to investigate, and although worker tempers flared, there were no delays in the building schedule.

A few weeks later, another accident involving a subcontractor occurred at the site.

This time, a load of corrugated steel sheets came loose, crashing down on a group of iron workers, injuring three seriously. Two workers told Newsday that when Emergency Medical Service workers arrived to take the injured workers to the hospital, they called in the police - to protect themselves from angry construction workers who felt they were too slow in removing injured workers.

Initially, OSHA officials were not informed of the last accident, because employers are only required to report "catastrophic" accidents to OSHA - those involving five or more hospitalized workers - and all accidents involving a death. But a formal worker complaint once again brought in OSHA investigators.

In February and March, OSHA issued the first wave of citations, unrelated to the three accidents. Six subcontractors were fined a total of $ 3,200 for serious violations, ranging from electrical hazards to improper protection on scaffolds. The maximum penalty for each serious violation is $ 1,000 - what one OSHA official called "lunch money these days" - while more flagrant "willful" violations, such as an employer knowingly placing employees in jeopardy, are assessed a maximum of $ 10,000 per instance. OSHA has not found any "willful" violations at the site.

During the next few months, OSHA slapped several subcontractors with an additional $ 8,350 in fines for dozens of serious violations. Laquila was fined $ 1,260 for hazardous conditions related to Caliendo's death; Century-Maxim was fined $ 1,200 for inadequate training procedures and the absence of guard railings around floor openings, which officials said contributed to Tropicano's death. And Steel Structures Erection Inc., based in Manhattan, was fined $ 1,120 for hazards related to the iron workers' accident.

There were other problems. In April, OSHA inspector Diana Meneses found an "imminent danger" hazard at the Citicorp site: There were no guardrails to protect workers from falling as they installed windows on two floors. Meneses told the subcontractor, Flour City Architectural Co., to remove its workers from the area until the hazard was corrected. But when Flour City did not comply, Meneses said, she called in Scott.

Scott, in an unusual action, came to the site and immediately met with Turner, Citicorp officials and Flour City and the hazard was quickly corrected - otherwise, OSHA would have gone to court for a restraining order.

But Scott had seen enough.

"We wanted more assurances that everyone would pay a little more attention to safety," Scott said. "There shouldn't be any greater concern for mixing cement than safety and health."

While OSHA officials initially cited Turner for two violations, they acknowledged that the company had a generally comprehensive safety program, but the problem was getting the dozens of subcontractors to comply. So OSHA agreed to withdraw the citations against Turner for a different settlement: an agreement whereby Turner would take a more active role getting subcontractors to follow the general contractor's own 13-page safety program for the project.

Turner has always had a full-time safety manager on site [every contractor of a major project is required to have one by New York City building law].

Citicorp spokeswoman Lisa Bert said Citicorp, one of the largest bank holding companies, has people on site who work with Turner, but "it's really the construction company [Turner] that deals with OSHA." She declined further comment.

Since the settlement, both OSHA and union officials say that most serious safety problems have been corrected. And the city department, which does not regulate worker safety but oversees construction sites as they affect public safety, says the Citicorp complex has had a good record in that regard since it broke ground in March, 1987.

Those who remain generally agree that the worst is past. "Things are pretty good right now," said Vincent DiMarcantonio, shop steward for the Mason Tenders Local Union No. 3. "Now everything is like it was supposed to be."
 
Turner Construction Co.
 
At a Glance
 
Founded. 1902 by H.C. Turner and D.H. Dixon
 
Base. 633 Third Ave., New Yorkk
 
Business. A subsidiary of Turner Corp., it is the largest U.S. general building contractor, managing $ 3.1 billion in commercial, government and residential projects.
 
Annual earnings. $ 47.9 million
 
No. of Employees. 2,700
 
Major New York projects. Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, United Nations building, Hines Building (Lipstick Building), Kings County Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, Baruch College, Columbia University business school, American Airlines terminal and hangar at Kennedy Airport, Montefiore Medical Center
 
Citations at the Sitee
 
Safety citations issued since February at the Citicorp site in Long Island City
 
March 3
 
Century-Maxim Construction Corp., Port Chester, N.Y.
 
Violations. Employees exposed to falling hazards, lack of guardrails, hazardous use of electrical equipment.
 
Fine. $ 660
 
March 3
 
E. Patti & Sons, Brooklyn
 
Violations. Employees exposed to falls, not protected by safety nets. Fine. $ 300
 
March 22
 
Steel Structures Erection, New York Violations. Scaffold improperly protected.
 
Fine. $ 720
 
March 24
 
A.C. Associates, Lynhurst, N.J.
 
Violations. Oyxgen tanks not separated from combustible gas cylinders. Fine. $ 200
 
March 24
 
3/B Industrial Corp., Queens
 
Violations. Unsafe electrical grounding of equipment.
 
Fine. $ 200
 
March 24
 
Laquila Construction, Brooklyn
 
Violations. Employees not trained about electrical hazards, hazardous electrical conditions, lack of stairway handrails.
 
Fine. $ 1,120
 
March 24
 
Turner Construction Co.
 
Violations. Unguarded floor openings, lack of stairway handrails.
 
Fine. Penalty withdrawn after settlement.
 
March 25
 
Steel Structures Erection, New York
 
Violations. Employees exposed to falling objects, lack of employee training.
 
Fine. $ 1,220
 
April 4
 
Century-Maxim Construction Corp., Port Chester, N.Y.
 
Violations. Employees not trained about unsafe conditions, floor openings not protected by guardrails.
 
Fine. $ 1,200
 
May 18
 
Donaldson Acoustics Co.,
 
Bethpage, L.I.
 
Violations. Improper electrical grounding and wiring, hazardous debris. Fine. $ 1,050
 
May 19
 
Allied, Flannery & Phoenix, Queens
 
Violations. Unsafe electrical wiring.
 
Fine. $ 450
 
May 20
 
Abco Peerless Sprinkler Corp.,
 
Garden City Park, L.I.
 
Violations. Unsafe wiring of electrical equipment.
 
Fine.$ 400
 
May 20
 
E. Patti & Sons, Brooklyn
 
Violations. Employees spraying chemicals without eye protection.
 
Fine. $ 400
 
May 23
 
Heydt Contracting Corp., Bronx
 
Violations. Employees exposed to falls, lack of platform guardrails. Fine. $ 560
 
June 1
 
Enterprise Trucking & Rigging,
 
Queens
 
Violations. Employees not protected from falls.
 
Fine.$ 420
 
June 3
 
Westinghouse Elevator Co.,
 
Valley Stream, L.I.
 
Violations. Lack of stair guardrails, compressed gas stored without safety caps.
 
Fine. $ 490
 
June 3
 
Woodworks Construction, New York
 
Violations. Unsafe wiring of equipment.
 
Fine. None
 
June 14
 
Laquila Construction
 
Violations. Employees exposed to hazards around crane loading operation, lack of proper training.
 
Fine. $ 1,260
 
SOURCE: Occupational Health and Safety Adminstration