OSHA says a Lynnfield, Mass., demolition company's failure to properly secure an unstable steel craneway led to January's fatal collapse at the former Fore River shipyard in Braintree, Mass., and the agency has cited the firm for 15 alleged violations of safety and health standards with proposed penalties of $60,400.

Testa Corp. was the general contractor for the demolition of the 190-foot tall steel craneway superstructure. On Jan. 26, two workers were killed and several others injured when the craneway collapsed onto an adjacent building from which workers were removing asbestos.

OSHA's inspection found that Testa Corp. did not do an engineering survey to determine the craneway's stability before allowing employees to work in the adjacent building. An engineering survey would have shown that several of the steel craneway's members had been cut through by torches, and cross-bracing supports had been removed, leaving the structure overstressed. Workers were also allowed into the building before the craneway had been properly braced or otherwise secured against collapse.

OSHA's inspection also identified several health hazards to workers exposed to airborne concentrations of lead while torch-cutting lead-coated steel. These included failing to monitor for lead exposure, several respirator hazards, lack of protective clothing and clean change areas, no training in lead hazards, lack of a written lead compliance program and lack of appropriate handwashing facilities.