BOSTON — A South Shore-based company that was overseeing demolition when part of the Government Center garage in downtown Boston collapsed earlier this year is facing hefty fines for “willfully exposing workers to hazards,” including one employee who plunged to his death, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Tuesday.
JDC Demolition Company, of Brockton, failed to adequately train its workers on the demolition plan and safety management system to help them recognize and avoid unsafe conditions, an inspection conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found.
Peter Monsini, 51, of Easton, was operating an 11,000-pound excavator on the eighth floor of the garage on March 26, 2022, when the partially demolished floor collapsed, causing him to plummet 80 feet to the ground. It was his first day on the job.
Despite the employee raising safety concerns to the foreman, Monsini was assigned to operate the excavator even though he never received a safety briefing and was not trained to follow the engineer’s demolition plan, according to OSHA.
On the morning of the collapse, OSHA investigators said that another heavy equipment operator, who had started demolition on a concrete beam on an upper floor bay, told the foreman they had concerns about the floor’s safety.
OSHA noted that it also found that JDC Demolition deviated from the demolition plan by imposing unsafe loads, in the form of heavy equipment, on the partially demolished seventh, eighth and ninth floors. The demolition plan prohibited the placement of heavy equipment on partially demolished floor bays.
“The OSHA investigation and citations, which were classified as serious, confirm our investigation into the partial building collapse and confirm that the actions of the general contractor and the other defendants was so egregious that it caused an unsafe worksite and the defendants failed to comply with industry standards and practices and caused the building collapse and wrongful death of Peter Monsini,” said Paul Mitchell, the Monsini family’s lawyer. The OSHA citations further support the estates claim for gross negligence and demand for punitive damages to the estate which intends to hold all defendants responsible for their conduct.
As a result of the deadly collapse, OSHA cited the company for eight “egregious-willful” violations, two “serious” violations and one “other than serious” violation of workplace safety standards and proposed a total of $1,191,292 in penalties.
The willful citations address the training and loading violations, according to OSHA: The serious and other than serious violations are regarding the inadequate accident prevention program, uncovered floor holes, and insufficient recordkeeping.
In a statement, OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton said, “JDC Demolition Company Inc. knew the heavy equipment on the partially demolished floors were over the weight limits and still allowed a worker, unaware of the hazards, to do demolition work. This willful and egregious disregard for safety cost a workers’ life and exposed other employees to potentially fatal hazards.”
A spokesperson for the demolition company responded to OSHA’s findings, saying, “JDC Demolition takes the safety and security of their employees extremely seriously and remains deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a team member. JDC Demolition historically has had an excellent safety record. They have fully cooperated with OSHA’s investigation and are carefully reviewing the citations, and will contest them as appropriate.”
OSHA also cited John Moriarty and Associates Inc., the demolition project’s general contractor, for four serious violations, with $58,008 in proposed penalties.
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