11.12.2009

Lewis and Labor Dept' reach agreement

The US Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Lewis Equipment Company have settled an appeal over safety citations following an L&I inspection of three tower cranes at construction sites in Washington State last spring and summer.

As part of the settlement, L&I has agreed to group all citations (for three worksites) into one and affirm. The citations covered violations related to load-testing, electrical certification, control labelling, operator cab access, for assembling two of the three tower cranes using sections from two different crane manufacturers without obtaining both manufacturers’ approval, and a lockout/tagout violation on one site.
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A Sun Crane owned by Lewis Equipment

The single lockout/tagout violation was affirmed by agreement, L&I’s investigation eventually determined that alleged electrical certification problems on the cranes had no relationship to the lockout/tagout violation.
Click here to see original report

In response to L&I concerns, Lewis Equipment Company corrected all of the alleged violations to the satisfaction of L&I before any formal citations were issued. As part of the compromise, L&I reduced its citation relating to the so-called hybrid cranes from serious to general.

Michael Silverstein, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health said: “Our priority is always to ensure safety in the workplaces we inspect. We’re pleased to have reached this settlement agreement with Lewis Equipment.”

Bob Reitz, Lewis’ engineering manager, added “With the exception of a lockout/tagout incident, no industrial injuries were suffered by anyone working with Lewis Equipment Company-leased tower cranes as a result of the instances which led to the citations. Prior to this incident, Lewis Equipment had used, and is still using the exact tower configuration in other states with the written approval of a licensed structural engineer.”

We are pleased that the citation issues have now been resolved and continue to work with the Department of Labor & Industries in a positive and cooperative fashion to accommodate worker safety concerns.”

Lewis Equipment, which distributes Yongmao tower cranes under the Suncrane brand name in North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September
Click here to see Lewis files Chapter 11