How can we prevent another Boise hangar collapse from happening? Listen to workers | Opinion

The most important question we can ask ourselves in the wake of the preliminary federal findings in the fatal collapse of a hangar under construction at the Boise Airport is this: How can we prevent something like this from happening again?

Federal investigators on Monday said the company that was building a hangar for the Jackson Jet Center engaged in an “appalling disregard of safety standards” before the collapse killed three men and injured at least eight on Jan. 31.

According to an Idaho Statesman article, Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found that Big D Builders, the Meridian contractor, “ignored standard safety procedures and visible warning signs during construction,” the U.S. Department of Labor, which includes OSHA, said in a news release.

Yes, construction site accidents happen; it’s an inherently dangerous business.

And it’s naive to think that we can eliminate all accidents and fatalities.

But here’s the saddest part about the story of the Bose hangar collapse: It was preventable.

As previous Idaho Statesman reporting showed, based on information obtained through a public records request, multiple workers at the site reported to the supervisor that something was wrong just one day before the fatal collapse.

Several employees who worked at the site told police that they had noticed bending beams, snapped cables and overall structural issues, according to Boise Police Department investigative reports.

Some of these workers informed the site’s supervisor of the concerns on Jan. 30, according to the reports. At least two employees said they had expressed concerns about the steel frame to the site’s supervisor, and an Inland Crane supervisor said he told a co-founder of Big D Builders that the beams “did not look right.”

It points to a culture of cutting corners.

“The tragic loss and pain suffered by so many is compounded by the fact that Big D Builders could have prevented all of this from happening,” David Kearns, Boise’s OSHA area director, said in a news release Monday. “We cannot put a value on the loss of life, but we will use all our resources to hold employers accountable when they willfully ignore safety regulations and expose workers to serious and fatal injuries.”

OSHA has recommended fines of nearly $200,000 to Big D Builders. We have our doubts as to whether such an amount, while not minor, would act as a deterrent.

Pending lawsuits for the deaths and injuries likely will result in further financial hits for Big D, but will it be enough to deter future bad actors who look to cut corners on a job site, even one so dangerous as erecting massive steel beams on a football field-size structure?

What about these workers and the crane operator who knew something was wrong?

What if, instead of telling the supervisor — who is motivated to get the job done quickly — those workers had called an OSHA inspector or some other third party who did not have a financial stake in or benefit from the job getting done?

Are workers adequately empowered to report problems when they see them? Do they know where to call? Perhaps future regulations should center on empowering workers to report concerns to the proper authorities.

The Boise hangar collapse was a tragic loss of life.

Let’s not squander the opportunity to learn from the mistake and to come up with solutions to prevent another such tragedy.

This story was originally published July 29, 2024 at 3:43 PM.