Occupational = Hazards - Lawsuit: Firms to Pay $2.3 Million to Estate of Former OSHA = Chief's Son

Lawsuit: Firms to Pay $2.3 Million to = Estate of=20 Former OSHA Chief's Son - 05/01/2006

Six years after a chunk of concrete fell and killed Kevin = Auchter=20 on an Albers, Ill., demolition site, Auchter's estate has = been=20 awarded $2.3 million by the project's general contractor and = a=20 subcontractor.

Auchter, the son of former OSHA Administrator Thorne = Auchter, was=20 working on a project involving the demolition of two = concrete=20 coal-storage silos at the Monterey Coal Co. plant. On Feb. = 24, 2000,=20 according to Auchter's attorneys, Auchter was helping to = prepare one=20 of the silos for implosion when a large piece of concrete = =96 weighing=20 between 40 and 70 tons =96 was jarred loose from within the = silo, fell=20 toward the ground and landed on Auchter, killing him = instantly.

Thorne Auchter, who headed OSHA from 1981 to 1984, filed = a=20 wrongful death lawsuit against Ciminelli Services Corp., the = general=20 contractor, and RBS Excavating Inc., a subcontractor to = Ciminelli=20 Services, on behalf of his son's estate. Settling the = lawsuit just=20 prior to jury selection, Ciminelli Services paid $2 million = to=20 Auchter's estate, while RBS Excavating contributed = $300,000.

Lawsuit: No Engineering Survey Was Conducted

According to Auchter's lawsuit, on the morning of the = fatality=20 RBS Excavating was instructed to bring in a larger = excavating=20 machine to speed up the chipping of a portion of the silo = =96 which=20 was composed of a type of concrete known as lean concrete = =96 in=20 preparation for implosion. The RBS Excavating operator = aggressively=20 chipped away, causing the large piece of lean concrete to = fall on=20 Auchter, the lawsuit contends.

Auchter's lawsuit alleges that Ciminelli Services did not = conduct=20 a demolition engineering survey to determine the condition = of the=20 lean concrete prior to removing it.

The suit also contends that Ciminelli Services did not = ascertain=20 the strength and viscosity of the inside shell's lean = concrete prior=20 to allowing subcontractors to chip at it and to have workers = stationed below at the base of the silo.

"There's a very good reason why federal regulations and=20 demolition standards obligate companies like Ciminelli and = RBS to=20 prepare engineering surveys before the dangerous process of = taking=20 down large structures begins," said Philip Corboy Jr., who, = along=20 with Edward Willer, represented Auchter's estate. = "Engineering=20 surveys prepare you for the unexpected. In this case, had = there been=20 a survey prepared and followed through on, I'm confident = Kevin never=20 would have found himself in harm's way on that fateful=20 afternoon."

- Josh Cable