But I doubt it.

I have worked around equipment like this for 30 years. When I first started working around heavy equipment it was taking you life in your hands. Of course at 24 I did not realize it.

The company I work for, which has Union representation here in Florida has totally changed its safety culture. No accident is acceptable.

The thing is, guaranteeing worker and bystander safety costs. My company has been willing to pay those costs. But most are not. And federal enforcement is totally lacking.

Someone should go to jail for this. Unfortunately it will probably be the crane riggers. Who were only doing what their owners, in an unwritten way, insisted they do. Go fast and get the job done.

My greatest fear is that one of my employees will be injured or killed on the job. Not sure I could live with myself if that happened.

It was also reported that a micro-burst wind happened at the time of the crane failure, overturning some pleasure craft on south Lake Union. There is also speculation that the crane was being dismantled at the time. Nevertheless, Mercer street, a main through-way to and from I5, will be closed for quite some time.

... a crane should be able to easily withstand wind gust of around 25 mph? It's unknown the strength of the gust that hit the crane, but the weather service recorded some in the range of 12 to 25 at observation station nearby. I'm guessing a strong gust would put more strain than more sustained wind?

A witness said the wind hit it and it looked like it broke in 1/2.

But a 25 mph gust is a normal summer thunderstorm here in Florida. Even a 40 mph gust is common.

This just pisses me off to no end. Every trade used to have high mortality rates. Really high. Until Unions and the government started making companies value the lives of their workers above profit.

But we are starting to go backwards now.

Of course the company and the supposedly regulators are going to blame this on the weather. Like no one saw bad weather coming.

I have seen too many workplace deaths blamed on any anything but corporate greed. It always get pinned on the working man for ignoring safety measures. Not looking into the fact that if the worker actually followed the safety regulations they would be fired for being too slow. That’s the reality.


Not at my company anymore. We actually follow the rules and value safety above all other things.

The saddest thing is the ‘manliness’ of the workers is often the biggest problem. I remember how hard it was to get my guys to wear safety vests, hard hats, and to insure they were tied in when in lifts. It was seen as being a pussy. Sorry for the crude language but that is what I was told. How did I convince my employees to be safe? First, they would be terminated if they weren’t. But the most effective tool? Asking them if they were willing to die for a company that would lay them off if conditions allowed it. That did the trick.

I worked in a warehouse for an auto glass wholesaler when I lived in Toronto. The top racks for windshields were about 30 feet up, give or take, and we had a machine that was basically a reverse forklift. It elevated you up so you could grab the glass without having to use a ladder.

The machine had a safety belt that'd catch you if you happened to fall. I was the only one who ever wore it. On weekends, when the bosses weren't in, the warehouse manager would get high and zoom around the shop in a forklift. I'm amazed no one died while I was working there, with some of the stuff I saw.

Sunday.

I wonder if there was some push to get it taken down today.

This is a very busy area of the city and has a ton of construction going on with cranes in every direction. Amazon headquarters is here. Mercer Street is a major route on and off the freeway and is always heavily congested; it’s called the Mercer mess around here.