BREAKING: OSHA Inspected Philly Building Collapse Site, But Did Not Shut It Down [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15122/osha_visited_philly_building_collapse_site_but_did_not_shut_it_down/

To old for LBN: Thursday Jun 6, 2013 6:53 pm

By Mike Elk



On June 5, 2013, rescue workers search for victims of a building that collapsed in Philadelphia. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)

Yesterday, a four-story building undergoing demolition in Philadelphia’s Center City district collapsed directly onto the Salvation Army store next door. According to Reuters, six people were killed. Already, questions are being raised about whether the building collapse was yet another workplace accident that could have been easily prevented.

So far, reports have focused on whether or not the City of Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) did its job by properly investigating a number of complaints from nearby workers and passersby about the safety of the construction site. In a press conference earlier today, Philadelphia Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections Carlton Williams said, “No subsequent inspection occurred to indicate there was any unsafe conditions. We did not follow up and we are definitely looking into that."

However, new evidence uncovered by Working In These Times shows that federal authorities may also have also played a role in enabling the accident. According to Pat Gillespie, the business manager for the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, union workers employed at a construction site across the street from the collapsed building called OSHA on four different occasions to report problems at the site.“[The union workers] went and talked to the people on the job who were non-union and they were rebuffed,” explains Gillespie. “So then they called both OSHA and L&I and let them what they perceived to be a hazard."

OSHA tells Working In These Times that it did inspect the site last month, but did not shut it down.

FULL story at link.