Muni to beef up scrutiny of potential contractors
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials said Thursday they will beef up background checks on potential contractors following revelations that a hired contractor, Shimmick Construction, had a history of safety violations.
The move comes at the direction of Mayor London Breed, less than a week after a signal technician was killed while working on the construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel.
“Today I instructed SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin to sit down with the City Attorney’s office to review and revise the current policy,” Breed said in a statement. “When it comes to awarding multi-million dollar contracts that impact the safety of our residents, there needs to be a better system of checks and balances.”
Until now, SFMTA officials said their application process counted on potential bidders to truthfully respond to a prequalification questionnaire.
“The SFMTA uses an industry-wide standard that takes into account their workers’ compensation claims compared to the size of its overall operations,” SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose said in an email. “These contractors represented that they met those requirements.”
Rose pointed to a prebidding document that asked Shimmick Construction officials and a business partner, “In the past ten years, has the Potential Bidder … been cited for any serious and willful safety violations by Cal-OSHA?” The company checked the box for “no.”
But Cal/OSHA records show that the agency cited Shimmick 39 times on safety violations stemming from nine incidents in the past decade, including one that resulted in a fatality. Shimmick, however, is appealing many of the citations.
In one case it’s appealing, a Shimmick Construction employee lost control of a forklift in November 2016 and died after getting ejected and pinned against a dirt wall, according to OSHA. Shimmick Construction was cited for six violations — three of which were serious — resulting in a fine of $48,400.
Records show at least one “serious/willful” violation was upheld by an appeals board following what Cal/OSHA described as a dangerous excavation in 2011.
Shimmick Construction’s history was first reported by the San Francisco Examiner and NBC Bay Area.
In an email Thursday afternoon, Rose said the department will now start fact-checking the bidders’ safety backgrounds.
“Rather than rely on information from potential contractors, we are taking steps now to change the policy and ensure that we verify details in the pre-bid documents going forward,” he wrote.
Last Friday, 51-year-old Patrick Ricketts was struck by a steel beam at the West Portal side of the 2.3-mile Twin Peaks Tunnel, officials said. Ricketts was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital.
Work inside the 100year-old light rail tunnel was suspended while the accident was investigated, and resumed the following day. The tunnel has been closed for service since June 25, and is scheduled to reopen this month.
Rose said SFMTA plans to complete the $41 million project on time, and will continue to use Shimmick Construction’s services.
In a statement released this week, the spokesman for Oakland-based Shimmick Construction said the company’s responses to the city’s questionnaire were “accurate,” and that “safety is core to everything we do.”
“That said, we do not take these matters lightly and ensure thorough investigation so they can be prevented in the future,” the statement by John Gallagher read. “Our priority right now is supporting Mr. Rickett’s family and fellow employees during this difficult time.”
Bidding qualification standards in San Francisco may differ by department, but officials from at least one other city entity said they’re also reviewing their policies.
In the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission questionnaire, contractors are required to sign under penalty of perjury that their answers are true to their knowledge, according to press secretary Will Reisman.
Reisman said PUC staff review all responses and verify portions of those answers, but added: “We are currently updating our processes to ensure that all safety answers on the questionnaire are verified.”
The review process began in July, and was not in response to the Muni death, Reisman said.