Settlement Reached in Crane Collapse

By Richard Seward

Published on March 14, 2007

Willie Slaughter, 38, was doing carpentry work at Oceans Park Condominiums in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, when the 100-ton crane collapsed and pinned him beneath scaffolding.

Initially, the collapse was believed to be an accident, but further investigation revealed otherwise. According to an Occupational Safety and Health investigation, a penny had been inserted into a safety switch, jamming the mechanism and allowing the crane to operate beyond its designed specifications. The penny allowed the crane’s jib and boom to operate concurrently, which substantially increased the potential for collapse.

Joel Toomey, Slaughter's attorney, claimed that more than one employee of Kelley Equipment, the owner of the crane, was aware of the potential for an accident. Toomey stated that at least two employees knew about the penny being placed in the switch. He added that it was his belief that these two individuals would not have taken it upon themselves to jeopardize the safety of workers on their own, suggesting that others in the upper levels of the company had knowledge of the safety violation.

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