PAGE 2 | April 19, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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...It was the biggest OSHA fine in years. And it still hasn’t been paid.
From Page 1
ODOT rules, even willful safety
violations don’t disqualify a
company from bidding on proj-
ects. In order to bid on ODOT
projects, companies must fill out
a “prequalification” application
every two years. The application
asks if in the previous five years
they’ve been found to have vio-
lated state or federal prevailing
wage or environmental statutes
or regulations — but not
whether they’ve been found to
violate safety regulations.
When local painters union
reps first learned Abhe & Svo-
boda got the Ross Island Bridge
job, they worried the company
might cut corners and leave
workers exposed. Abhe & Svo-
boda — a Minnesota-headquar-
tered company that does busi-
ness nationwide — had a history
of safety violations: In 1996, a
worker was killed in Wisconsin
in a lift bucket accident. In 1998,
a worker fell 200 feet to his
death in Maine. In 2011, the
company was fined nearly
$30,000 for dozens of OSHA vi-
olations on the Astoria-Megler
Bridge between Oregon and
Washington.
To gather information, union
organizer Omar Rubi got a job
on the bridge painting crew. He fell through the ladder after his
and several coworkers wit- compressed air hose got stuck
nessed serious safety lapses, but on a bent cap cover (a piece of
were ignored and even disci- metal used to cover space be-
plined by company manage- tween scaffold planks on the
ment for complaining about the platform).
safety issues. Rubi was sent
Montiel says his dad had
home two days before the acci- warned an Abhe & Svoboda
dent after saying workers could foreman about that exact hazard
take their complaints to OSHA, two days earlier — the loose
and was later terminated. He piece of metal sticking up from
now works en-
the platform
forcing pre-
was near an
vailing wage
unsecured lad-
“He was like, oh yeah,
rules at the
der hole, and
we’re going to fix it;
Port of Seattle.
Lilly asked
Lilly and his
don’t worry.’ They didn’t
that the hole be
adopted son
fix it, and two days later
covered.
Montiel are
my dad got caught on
“He was
from Brazil,
that piece of metal and
like, ‘oh yeah,
and
Lilly
we’re going to
fell
through
the
hole”
speaks limited
fix it; don’t
— Christopher Montiel
English, but
worry.’ They
Montiel,
didn’t fix it,
reached by
and two days
phone at home
later
my
dad
got
caught on that
in Renton, Washington, said his
father’s fall could have been piece of metal and fell through
the hole.”
prevented.
Lilly fell 37 feet and landed
On the morning of the acci-
dent, Lilly and other workers on Montiel’s shoulder, knocking
were using compressed air him down. Montiel hit his face
hoses to blow down dust, sand, on the steel deck, resulting in
paint chips, and other material. brain bleeding and broken facial
Montiel was working on a tem- bones in four places, and neces-
porary platform below scraping sitating surgery on both eyes.
paint. Lilly lost his balance and Lilly suffered injuries to his
wrists, eyes, and scrotum, and
two broken ribs. The two had to
be removed from the bridge by
the Portland Fire Department in
an elaborate rescue operation.
Both were experienced
painters and had been working
for Abhe & Svoboda less than
two months. Two years later,
both are unable to return to their
former occupation because of
their injuries, and are doing
light-duty work at Salvation
Army. They’re represented by
Portland attorney Colin Hackett
in ongoing workers’ compensa-
tion proceedings.
Abhe & Svoboda’s legal ap-
peal of the OSHA fine will be
decided by administrative law
judge Nicholas Sencer.
Meanwhile, under its contract
with ODOT, Abhe & Svoboda
was supposed to complete the
Ross Island Bridge repainting
project by Aug. 31, 2017, but
didn’t wrap it up until June 15,
2018. To penalize the company
for the delay, ODOT assessed
$777,600 in liquidated damages.
Abhe & Svoboda is contesting
that penalty too.
Abhe & Svoboda chief finan-
cial officer Tom Stockert did not
return a call seeking comment
on the case.