Tuesday, November 10, 1998
De Neve project prompts inquiry into safety issues
HOUSING: Steel contractor has numerous violations on record
By Lawrence Ferchaw
Daily Bruin Staff
De Neve Plaza, soon to be the home of over 1,000 students,
currently houses an ongoing dispute over workplace safety and
building code violations by one of the project’s
subcontractors.
Steve Skinas, business agent for the local chapter of the
International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornament Iron
Workers, found that Sampson Steel, a subcontractor on the De Neve
Plaza project, has been cited for 23 violations since 1991 – and
that on one project, it had 10 notices of non-compliance with
established building standards.
Representatives from Sampson Steel said that not only are these
violations "exaggerated," but the company has improved since many
of these violations were cited. Skinas disagrees.
"I don’t believe Sampson’s made any overnight turnarounds in
their shoddy work and greedy ways," Skinas said.
Sampson representatives said the allegations by Skinas’ union
have more to do with the fact that Sampson is not a union
contractor, rather than the quality of its work.
"Every company gets (citations)," said Jim Long, senior project
manager for Sampson Steel. "The unions obviously don’t like
us."
UCLA had the project’s general contractor look into the
allegations made by Skinas. One administrator said the university
was satisfied with Sampson’s response.
"To date, they have responded to all the issues brought up and
responded satisfactorily," said Brad Erickson, director of real
estate for UCLA.
The 10 notices of non-compliance were cited by RMA Group, a
private building inspection firm hired by the Claremont Graduate
College to inspect the work on the construction of the Peter
Drucker Management Center at Claremont. RMA declined to comment on
the inspections.
The violations at Claremont include not having proof of the
grade of steel used, not having paperwork for welder certification
and not having a copy of the welding procedures.
The most serious of these violations was that a number of beams
installed exceeded the maximum load that they could hold.
Kerop Janoyan, a graduate student in engineering, reviewed the
non-compliance reports for The Bruin and said that from what he
read, he did not see any large errors on the part of Sampson.
"I don’t see much of a major problem," Janoyan said.
One professional building inspector, however, disagreed with
this assessment.
"That’s some real deep shit," said Gene Prowizor, owner of A Aa
Building Inspection Service, after hearing the violation.
Prowizor’s company is made up of retired government building
inspectors. He has no direct knowledge of the project, however.
The beams in question were replaced, according to both Sampson
Steel and Jay German, director of marketing and communications for
Claremont College.
"Our concern is (that) what goes in place complies, and it did,"
German said.
The replacement work was done at the expense of Sampson Steel
and did not add any additional cost to Claremont.
As a result of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, there were a
number of changes in the building codes, causing confusion in the
construction business. The Drucker Center was built in 1996, at a
time when there was still confusion in the codes.
"These notices are dealing with issues up in the air," Janoyan
said.
Long acknowledged the non-compliance reports but said the
company has changed since.
"We’ve initiated a quality control program," Long said. "There’s
a new staff at this company … it’s quite a different
company."
Long also disputed the seriousness of the non-compliance
citations.
"The violations have been greatly exaggerated. But they’re
legitimate, I’m not saying they’re not," Long said. "It was not a
runaway locomotive."
Sampson Steel recently worked at Los Angeles International
Airport, where the general contractor was satisfied with the
company’s work.
"Sampson did a great job," said Mark Caputo, an assistant
project manager with Peck Jones, the general contractor at the
airport project. "They’re a very capable and qualified structural
steel subcontractor."
The other violations against Sampson Steel come from the
California Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(Cal/OSHA). A total of 23 citations were issued since 1991 and
range from not having a steel erection plan in place to citations
for employees not wearing helmets.
Most of the violations are defined as being "other than
serious;" that is, they would not directly result in injury or
death to an employee, according to Dean Fryer, a spokesman for
Cal/OSHA.
This description did not satisfy Skinas, who said a violation is
a violation, regardless of how it is defined.
"Even though they don’t sound serious, it’s a big deal if it
kills someone," Skinas said.
Since 1991, Sampson has had three accidents involving employees.
One on Dec. 23, 1997, came after a boom crane fell and injured a
worker. Cal/OSHA is still investigating the incident. Long contends
the fault falls on the machinery, which was rented, rather than the
employee operating the crane.
"This was an anomaly, in my view," Long said. "You see this once
in a decade. From our perspective it has nothing do with us."
Another violation involved not having protective caps on top of
reinforced steel bars sticking up out of the ground.
"Everyone overlooks these until someone falls and a piece of
steel goes through their body," Skinas said.
Sampson is expected to work this week on some of the smaller
buildings that make up De Neve Plaza and will return in January for
the main building of the complex.
Sampson Steel went through changes in recent years with the
implementation of a quality control program and hiring of a number
of new employees, according to Long. The company has also taken
steps to ensure the problems that happened at Claremont don’t
happen again.
"On this job we made a point of hiring the best steel detailer,"
Long said. "We will make the schedule."
Still, Skinas said he doubts Sampson’s promises and plans to be
present when Sampson Steel arrives on the job with a camera and a
cellular phone to report any violations he may see to Cal/OSHA.
"They’re going to have problems because I’m going to be out
there monitoring them," Skinas said.BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin
Sampson Steel, one of the subcontractors on the De Neve housing
project, has several Cal/OSHA violations.
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