Earlier this week, as most in the U. S. know, a crane toppled, a section of the steel roof frame fell and hit another crane where three ironworkers were killed. What you may not know about was the greedy, singleminded supervisory practices that led to their deaths. Pressures from the team's marketing department (the team slogan this year is the now ghastly "Bringing Down The House"). The original safety plan was not to make lifts with the 500 ft. crane with winds over 10 miles an hour. The wind was gusting to 25 miles per hour when the crane toppled.
Some excerpts from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article by Greg J. Borowski:
Still, several outside experts questioned Wednesday's lift.
"I don't know if I would want to make a lift in 25- to 30-mile-an-hour winds," said James Headley, director of the Crane Institute of America. "I can't believe they would would want to do it. I can't understand it."
However, he and other experts stressed that although high winds are seen as a probable cause, there could be many other reasons for the accident.
The [medical] report says that Ramona Starr, the wife of Jerome Starr [killed in the collapse], had visited the construction site earlier Wednesday and told authorities that there had been an argument regarding the dangers of lifting one of the large roof sections in the strong winds.
Some of the ironworkers thought the wind was blowing too hard to go ahead with the roof work, the report says.
Authorities have said at least 25 ironworkers went home earlier in the day Wednesday. Others followed, a move that some have characterized as a protest of the conditions.
Balistreri, who heads the trades council, said he doubts it was done in protest. He noted the unions have an agreement that there will be no work stoppages on the Miller Park project.
"I know 25 guys were sent home," he said. "The reason for it was they really didn't have any more work left for them. They had been working a tremendous amount of overtime.
"It may be more people followed them out; I don't know."
In any case, when the roof lifts are made, the stadium is cleared of nearly all workers - a precaution that likely prevented more deaths Wednesday.
"It ain't over yet," said Lyle Balistreri, president of the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, which is made up of 21 unions, including Iron Workers Local 8.
"Somebody was at fault and made the call that cost these guys their lives," he said. "I want to see them dealt with to the fullest extent of the law."
Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann will use the police and sheriff's investigations and the counsel of outside experts to determine if criminal recklessness or negligence played a role in the accident.
"We're looking to see if somebody was reckless in their actions and put somebody in harm's way," said Richard Heath, the chief investigator in the district attorney's office.
On at least three previous occasions, McCann and his office have prosecuted corporations for negligence that led to the deaths of workers.
In addition to potential criminal prosecution through the district attorney's office, the accident could lead to federal prosecution or civil actions on the part of OSHA. Investigators with the agency also were at the stadium, examining the debris and wreckage on Thursday. "You know, we're living in a world of greed and hate"
-- Merle Travis