Companies cited with serious violations for deadly scaffolding collapse in Charlotte
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Charlotte Scaffolding Collapse
On Jan. 2, 2023, scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in Charlotte, killing three workers.
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North Carolina labor department officials are fining two subcontractors $130,000 for serious safety violations at a construction site where a scaffolding collapse killed three workers in January.
On the morning of Jan. 2, a construction crew was working on a residential tower near Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood when a “mast climber” scaffold collapsed. Three workers — Jose Canaca Bonilla, Gilberto Monico Fernández and Jesus “Chuy” Olivares — fell 70 feet to their deaths. Two other workers were injured.
Old North State Masonry LLC, the Matthews-based company that erected the scaffolding, was fined more than $87,000 for six serious violations, according to state records.
Friends Masonry Construction LLC, a Charlotte-based subcontractor, was fined more than $43,500 for three serious violations.
Violations issued to Friends Masonry Construction included:
▪ Using and failing to immediately repair a scaffold that was damaged or weakened. Parts of the structure were “heavily rusted and deteriorated, affecting both the structural integrity and strength of the scaffold,” the citation said.
▪ Using a scaffold and/or a component that was not capable of supporting its own weight and at least four times the maximum intended load. “The bridge section was used by the employer and loaded with approximately 1,756 lbs,” the report read.
▪ Failing to inspect the scaffold and components for visible defects prior to each shift.
Old North State Masonry was issued the same three violations, plus three violations for using a scaffold that was not “constructed in accordance with the design by a qualified person.”
Each violation carried a fine of $14,502, records show.
Ashley Hawkins, president of the Charlotte-Metrolina Labor Council, said the fines aren’t high enough.
“If these are just a standard fine for a catastrophic safety violation, but the result is the loss of someone’s life, the fine is still not a deterrent for an employer who is so intent on saving money that they won’t properly maintain equipment,” Hawkins said.
Erin Wilson, a spokesperson for the state labor department, said the penalties “are in no way designed to make up for the loss of life.”
She stressed that her department doesn’t receive civil penalty fines. Instead, state law sends them to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund, which gives the money to public schools.
Five Charlotte construction workers killed in 2023
It has been a deadly year for Charlotte construction workers. In May, two men — Demonte Sherrill and Reuben Holmes — were killed in the massive fire that consumed an apartment building under construction near SouthPark Mall.
Under state law, the companies cited in the scaffolding collapse can contest the penalties within 15 days and request an informal conference to argue for a penalty reduction. Companies can also contest citations through the state Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent board appointed by the governor to hear such appeals.
Reached by phone Thursday, Alejandro Sanchez, one of the owners of Friends Masonry, declined to comment on the citations. Officials for Old North State Masonry could not immediately be reached for comment.
In an interview with the Observer earlier this year, Bonilla’s parents say they want stronger efforts to keep construction workers safe.
“I want there to be more safety so this will never happen again to Latino families,” Jose’s mother, Iris Bonilla, said through an interpreter at her east Charlotte home. “Because their parents, mothers, sons – they’re waiting for them to come back home.”
None of the three victims were wearing safety harnesses when they died, family members said. When working at heights, construction workers sometimes wear harnesses that are tied to the building — a precaution that prevents them from falling long distances.
But federal rules generally don’t require such safety harnesses when workers are standing on scaffolds that are surrounded by guardrails — the type that collapsed on Jan. 2.
The site of the tragedy — a rising 16-story apartment complex on East Morehead Street — was one of more than 200 commercial and multifamily construction projects underway at that time in Mecklenburg County. The builder is Hanover Company, a Houston-based general contractor. Bonilla worked for Friends Masonry Construction.
Mast climber scaffolds, which are attached to the sides of buildings under construction, carry equipment and people up and down the structure, much like an elevator.
Osman Reyes, Bonilla’s stepfather, said he was concerned about the safety of scaffolding on the East Morehead Street construction site before the three men died because it appeared to be unstable.
He approached an employee with Old North State Masonry, the company that erected the scaffolding, to ask about that, he said. He was told it had been put up properly.
This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Companies cited with serious violations for deadly scaffolding collapse in Charlotte."
