The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the general contractor for Northwestern’s new Music and Communication Building, citing a violation that may have led to the accidental death of an iron worker in May.
Power Construction Company of Schaumburg, Ill., faces a $7,000 penalty for the citation, which says it did not protect its subcontractor employees from falling objects while they worked on the lakefront project. Michael Kerr, 57, was struck and killed by a beam after a crane knocked it off the sixth floor on the morning of May 16.
The citation, issued Thursday, claims “no means of protection was provided” for Kerr and his coworkers before his death, despite girders sitting on the edge of a walkway six floors above them. OSHA classified the violation as “serious.”
“A violation is noted as serious when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known,” OSHA spokesman Scott Allen wrote in an email to The Daily.
The company has 15 business days after it receives the citation to comply, meet with OSHA officials or challenge their findings.
Four days after Kerr died, his 21-year-old son by the same name filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Power Construction, seeking at least $200,000 in damages. The four-count suit alleges the company could have prevented the death by properly securing construction materials and inspecting the work environment, among other safety measures.
NU spokesman Al Cubbage declined to comment on the citation Monday afternoon, saying the University had not yet seen it.
“However, we continue to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kerr,” Cubbage wrote in an email to The Daily.
Power Construction and the younger Kerr’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
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Twitter: @PatrickSvitek
