Boise hangar collapse could have been prevented

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

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

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

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Yes, accidents do happen on construction sites. It is a dangerous occupation.

And it is naive to think that we can eliminate all accidents and deaths.

But the sad thing about the Bose hangar collapse story is: it was preventable.

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

Several employees working at the site told police they noticed bent beams, broken cables and general structural problems, according to Boise Police Department investigative reports.

According to the reports, some of those workers alerted the site supervisor of their concerns on Jan. 30. At least two workers said they raised concerns about the steel framing with the site supervisor, and an Inland Crane supervisor said he told a co-founder of Big D Builders that the beams “didn’t look right.”

It points to a culture where people cut corners.

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

OSHA has recommended fines of nearly $200,000 for Big D Builders. We have our doubts that such a sum, while not insignificant, would have much of a deterrent effect.

Ongoing lawsuits for the dead and injured will likely cause Big D even more financial harm, but will it be enough to deter future criminals looking to cut corners on a construction site, even one as dangerous as placing massive steel beams on a structure the size of a football field?

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 has no financial interest in or benefit from getting the job done?

Do employees have sufficient authority to report problems when they see them? Do they know where to call? Perhaps future regulations should focus on empowering employees to report concerns to the appropriate authorities.

The Boise hangar collapse tragically cost many lives.

Let us not miss the opportunity to learn from the mistake and come up with solutions to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinions of the Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. The board members are Opinion Editor Scott McIntosh, Opinion Writer Bryan Clark, Contributing Editor Chadd Cripe, Staff Editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser, and Community Members Greg Lanting, Terri Schorzman, and Garry Wenske.