New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
NEW BEDFORD, Mass.: On Friday afternoon, the New Bedford Fire Department raced to a reported pier collapse on Antonio L. Costa Avenue. Fortunately, there have were no reports of injuries or that anyone was dumped into the water.
In October of 2023, there was collapse of a 225’ by 36’ section of bulkhead/pier which you can read about here. Five workers plungedinto the water in that incident and one worker had to be transported to St. Luke’s Emergency Department by NBEMS.
The 2023 incident was investigated by OSHA inspectors who found that Mohawk Northeast Inc. of Plantsville was at fault for not determining if the pier’s walking and working surfaces had the strength and structural integrity to support employees safely with the weight of materials and equipment on it.
OSHA issued the company a willful citation and assessed $161,323 in proposed penalties. The agency also proposed an additional $53,004 in penalties for four serious violations related to potential fall, drowning and struck-by hazards posed by the employer’s failure to do the following:
• Provide fall protection for employees working on the pier.
• Anchor or secure a crawler crane to the barge effectively to prevent its shifting.
• Provide life jackets for employees working on the pier and an adjacent barge.
• Protect or mark the crane’s swing radius to prevent it from striking employees.
The proposed penalties total $214,327.
October 2023 Collapse. Video by westislandweather.com.
