Hard Rock engineer’s ‘serious,’ ‘willful’ violations led to hotel collapse, OSHA report says – By Jeff Adelson and Jerry Dicolo (NOLA) / April 2 2020
The engineering firm that worked on the Hard Rock Hotel did not properly design its beams and other load-bearing structures, leading to structural problems that may have contributed to its collapse in October, according to citations issued by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Heaslip Engineering, the firm responsible for the job, under-designed beams on the 16th floor, did not design portions of the upper stories building to tie into more well-secured bottom floors and included features on the 17th and 18th floor that exceeded the manufacturers guidance for how far apart supports should be placed, according to the citations.
OSHA considered those violations to be “serious” or “willful” in its citations, which fine Heaslip Engineering about $154,200 for those violations.
The “willful” violation was for structural steel connections that were “inadequately designed, reviewed or approved, affecting the structural integrity of the building,” according to the citations. OSHA defines a willful violation as one in which “the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement (purposeful disregard) or acted with plain indifference to employee safety.”
A “serious” violation is one involving a workplace hazard that “could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm, unless the employer did not know or could not have known of the violation.”
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