Spring Break
Construction mishap raises safety concerns
Marilen Bugarin
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News
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"I heard crashing glass, basically. It sounded like a building being demolished," said witness Michael Nguyen, a junior government major.
Director of Facilities Planning and Construction Services Victor Takahashi said in an e-mail that a specialty forklift "hit the lower level storefront (window) as it attempted to dump gravel into the planned Japanese (rock) garden."
Takahashi also said construction was in the lower pit area beyond pedestrian pathways, the area inside the damaged wall was not occupied by the public and no one was hurt.
"At no time was the public in danger," he said.
In light of the incident and the several construction projects in progress throughout campus, issues of safety have received more focus from students and faculty.
Director of Facilities and Utilities Linda Hafar agreed that public safety was a paramount concern to the department and measures are taken to block public access to construction work.
"Anytime there's construction, we have barricades," Hafar said. "What's unfortunate is that sometimes people walk over them or under them or squeeze through the fences." In the case of the library window smashing, there were no unauthorized people in the area.
The garden's installation was in conjunction with the addition of a Japanese tea room to the library's lower level. The broken window was one of many recently installed in the tea room, said Joe Bittaker, president of the project's general contractor, Landmark Construction Co.
With an unobstructed view of the incident from the Alpha Phi Omega booth where he was trying to recruit new members, Nguyen said the forklift tipped over, two of the wheels in the air.
Construction worker Pat Hill, who was on-site during the incident, said the accident occurred due to the difficult terrain and a heavy load in the bucket of the forklift.
"The forklift was on a hill and the bucket was full of gravel," Hill said. "The forklift slid on some ivy and the weight (of the gravel) swung it around and tipped it over, hitting the glass."
Bittaker declined to identify the forklift operator, but commented that he was under review.
"That (is an) employee who is under investigation for disciplinary action," Bittaker said in a telephone interview Friday. Bittaker said that the accident was one of the factors in the investigation.
"Even if it was an accident due to miscalculation, It's our job to calculate (terrain and load weight) and we take it seriously," Bittaker said.
Sophomore criminal justice major Jessica Munivong, who was at the Sigma Omicron Pi booth, which was close to the site of the broken window, said the construction worker operating the forklift "fell down" while on foot prior to the accidental window breaking.
"I just looked at him. That's what got my attention there in the first place," Munivong said. Soon after seeing the construction worker's fall, Munivong said she saw the "shovel part" of the forklift hit the window and three of its wheels take to the air.
Bittaker said that the employee was certified to operate a materials handler forklift, but declined to comment on conditions that might have affected his performance on the job on that day.
Soon after the glass was shattered, construction worker Hill and government major Nguyen said another construction worker was sent in to operate the forklift after the window was broken. Bittaker did not return later phone calls to comment on why a different forklift operator was sent in to continue the job or elaborate on other factors that prompted investigation -- other than the accident itself.
Takahashi and Bittaker said the forklift had not tipped or rolled over.
"It wasn't tipped over on its side or something like that," Bittaker said. "It leaned out of balance but recovered itself and got back on all wheels."
Takahashi said that although construction projects can be dangerous, he and the Facilities Services Department always try to ensure public safety.
"Construction is inherently a dangerous field, but we try to mitigate that as much as possible," Takahashi said. "We try to make sure (contractors) conduct safety meetings and follow safety protocol. If we notice anything unsafe, we stop work and notify them immediately."
Bittaker said Landmark is also concerned about student safety and said the library incident will be investigated thoroughly.
"We're a very safety-conscious company," Bittaker said. "We consider this to be a safety incident and we'll investigate it as a possible safety violation."
However, many students expressed that they don't feel endangered by the construction at the library or any of the construction projects on campus currently in progress.
"Nobody was in danger. It was just that one area and it was pretty far from the student traffic," Munivong said of the library incident. "It was pretty scary, though."
Senior civil engineering major Armando Lopez said he felt safe and barely inconvenienced by the construction projects overall. He believes the benefit to students outweighs being shaken by an isolated incident.
"It's stuff that has to be done. It's like any project," Lopez said. "Yeah, it affects us right now, but it will benefit students three to four years from now."
Art major Elezabeth Courtney's one complaint about construction on campus was the lack of visible signage for the detours around construction projects. She cited an incident in January when she walked a farther distance from her parking spot to the University Union because there were no signs directing her around construction.
Marilen Bugarin can be reached at news@statehornet.com.
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