No life jackets among safety fails when Homestead man died on Keys job, OSHA says
An overloaded crane, unqualified crane operator and no life jackets led to a Homestead man’s drowning death after a Florida Keys crane collapse, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said.
The Citation and Notification of Penalty from OSHA accuses Key Largo’s Upper Keys Marine Construction of those and other safety violations, worth $92,191 in proposed fines, in the March 21 death of employee Jose Eduardo Reyes Ponce.
Upper Keys Marine Construction, registered as UKMC, LLC, in state records with Michael Jones as the registered agent, didn’t return phone messages or an email from the Miami Herald.
OSHA’s description of what happened at 59 Mutiny Place around 3:30 p.m. March 21 says Reyes “was disconnecting a chain from the pile for the pile driving operation that used a crawler crane with a dropped hammer in a lead, operated from a barge. He climbed the lead steps and was supposed to be moved by the crane from the barge to the hole where the pile would be released from the chains (his job) and be hammered.
“On the trajectory of swinging the boom, the crane tracks were raising up and the crane flipped over the water,” OSHA said. “The pile driving equipment, where [Reyes] was holding himself, dropped into the water with him. He was struck, trapped, and sunken to the bottom of the sea by the pile driving equipment. The lead and the dropped hammer trapped part of his leg and feet. It was not possible for him to release himself. [Reyes] was killed due to drowning.”
Reyes was 29 years old. OSHA Area Office Director Conell Eastmond said: “This tragedy was completely preventable if the company had met its responsibility and followed federal requirements. Because of its negligence, a young man needlessly lost his life, and his loved ones are now left to grieve their loss.”
You can report workplace safety problems to OSHA either online, calling 800321-6742 (OSHA) or by visiting an OSHA office.