From the Publishers Desk
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$17,000 in Penalties Imposed By OSHA After Condo Collapse
Maximum penalties totaling $17,000 have been assessed against four companies as a result of the collapse of a five-story condominium under construction that killed 11 workers. (See Fire Engineering, November 1981, page 28.)
The penalties don’t seem like much in view of the fact that so many lives were lost, but they are the maximum penalties—$1000 each—that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can assess. Six citations based on reinforcement of concrete floor slabs and columns, mixing of concrete, and hazards associated with the shoring of the Cocoa Beach, Fla., condo were imposed on each of two firms. Another company received four citations regarding improper shoring, and a fourth firm was cited once for improper reinforcement of concrete.
Basically, safe working conditions on a reinforced concrete construction job are created by proper mixture of concrete, adequate shoring of the fhx>r slabs and sufficient reinforcement of slabs and columns. These things are a serious concern to fire fighters at a reinforced concrete building under construction because there is no way they can fully determine the imminent danger of collapse of recently poured floor slabs during a fire.
In this era of newly designed plastic helmets that are heralded as advances in providing safety to fire fighters, it is interesting to note that the New York Fire Department is going to continue to use leather helmets. Except for slight style changes, the helmet worn in New York City is the same one that has been used by New York fire fighters for nearly a century and a half.
The traditional leather helmet failed a 482° F heat transmission test that was among the tests conducted for New York. However, the conclusion of New York fire officials was that at that temperature, his helmet is the least of a fire fighter’s problems.
It seems like yesterday, but CHEMTREC is now in its 11th year of operation. During its first decade, the Chemical Transportation Emergency Center in Washington, D.C., handled 20,500 incidents. Some form of transportation was involved in 85 percent of these incidents.
CHEMTREC recently expanded its direct dial number, 800-424-9300, to include Puerto Rico. Alaska and Hawaii callers must still use 202-483-7616—the District of Columbia emergency number. However, they can call collect.
