2:00 a.m. February 25, 2009
SAN DIEGO — A scaffolding company caused the collapse of a wooden walkway cover in downtown San Diego that killed one man and injured at least 14 others in August, a state agency has concluded.
A report by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health said Paramount Scaffold Inc. created a hazard when workers stacked scaffolding planks and metal frames against the pedestrian canopy.
The company was sent a notice that it will be fined $10,120 for two serious violations of state safety regulations.
The 200-foot-long walkway cover, along Imperial Avenue at 15th Street in East Village, collapsed on pedestrians Aug. 28. Fifteen or 16 people were hospitalized, and one, Tyrone Allen, 49, died Feb. 12 of injuries he suffered that day.
Some of the injured were homeless people who lived at St. Vincent de Paul Village, across the street from the construction site. The Cal-OSHA report said some shelter patrons used the walkway as a refuge.
The cover was erected to protect pedestrians from debris from the construction of a four-story apartment complex called Studio 15, an extension of St. Vincent de Paul Village being built by Affirmed Housing Group of San Diego.
Cal-OSHA began an investigation within 40 minutes of the accident, according to its report, issued yesterday.
The report said four Paramount Scaffolding workers stacked planks and frames against the walkway canopy about 8:15 a.m. About 11:30 a.m., a crane operator saw the walkway bowing beneath the weight of eight to 10 planks. He warned another workman, who told the scaffolding crews and his supervisor.
Security cameras showed the walkway start to lean, then suddenly buckle and collapse at 12:20 p.m. Several people scattered amid the debris; others were trapped.
The actions by the Paramount Scaffolding workers violated two state safety regulations against overloading scaffolding and creating a hazard with stored material, Cal-OSHA concluded.
The report categorized the violations as “serious.”
The company has a right to contest the fines.
“We haven't seen it (the report), at least not as of right now,” Jim McCormick, chief financial officer of Paramount Scaffold Inc. in Los Angeles, said yesterday. “We talked to Cal-OSHA a week ago, and they told us it was two weeks away.”
San Diego attorney Todd Neal, representing Allen's widow, Tina Allen, and the couple's three adult children, filed a lawsuit within days of the collapse. Allen's injuries instantly made him a quadriplegic, Neal said.
The lawsuit alleged negligence, but because Allen has died, it will be amended to claim wrongful death, Neal said.
Named as defendants are property owner Studio 15 Housing Partners, general contractor Allgire General Contractors Inc. and Paramount Scaffold. Allgire and Studio 15 could not be reached for comment late last night.
Neal said it was significant that the scaffolding workers were warned that the walkway was beginning to buckle.
“They did nothing,” he said.
