Morris County contractor created worker safety hazards that led to hangar collapse at Newark Liberty International Airport

Employer name: Catanzaro & Sons Enterprise, doing business as CATCO Demolition Services
10 Gregory Drive, Montville, New Jersey

Site: Newark Liberty International Airport, 14 Brewster Road, Newark, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Feb. 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Parsippany Area Office issued a citation for one willful violation.

Investigation findings: OSHA’s inspection began Sept. 9, 2015 after United Airlines Hanger No. 14 at Newark Liberty International Airport collapsed during demolition. Inspectors determined CATCO Demolition Services deviated from an approved demolition plan and made unapproved cuts to several I-beams, weakening the structural members of the hangar as employees worked inside the hangar. OSHA cited CATCO for this hazard.

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of the citation and proposed penalty to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Proposed penalty: $49,000

Quote: “By not following the approved demolition plan, CATCO Demolition Services left its employees vulnerable to unnecessary risk,” said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office. “Employers must provide employees with a safe working environment; anything less than that is unacceptable.”

View the citations:  http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/CatanzaroandSons_1091006.pdf .

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Parsippany Area Office at 973-263-1003.