A company whose three employees were killed when they scaffolding they were on collapsed at a TV transmitter tower in Miami Gardens last year has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA announced Tuesday that Tower King II Inc., based in based in Cedar Hill, Texas, was cited in the Sept. 27 deaths of the employees who were on the scaffolding, also known as a gin pole, installing a new antenna on the 1,040-foot tower at 501 Northwest 207th Street when it collapsed.
The gin pole failed, causing the employees - Brachton Barber, 23, Marcus Goffena, 31, and Benito Rodriguez, 35 - to fall, OSHA determined.
OSHA investigators also determined that the employer "failed to ensure the capacity of the rigging attachments were adequate to support the forces imposed from hoisting loads," according to a news release.
The company was issued a citation for exposing employees to fall and struck-by hazards and faces $12,934 in proposed penalties, the maximum allowed under law.
"This tragedy underscores the importance of having a qualified individual conduct an analysis before performing construction work on communication towers," said Condell Eastmond, director of Fort Lauderdale's OSHA Office.
The company has 15 days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings.
