Last year's deadly forklift accident at Boston Logan International Airport was avoidable, federal worksite overseers said Monday, announcing that the worker's employer is being cited.
The forklift operator, a 51-year-old man from Winthrop, was fatally injured when part of the vehicle hit an entrance, causing it to tip over and fall onto the worker at an outdoor loading area in Terminal C on Aug. 29.
He worked for a JetBlue subcontractor, officials have said, and a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection found Oxford Airport Technical Services, based in Rochester, New York, failed to ensure that the man was wearing seatbelt.
The OSHA investigation also found that not all of Oxford's forklift operators were properly trained and certified, that the forklift in question raised its mast and forks more than necessary and that a damaged forklift wasn't examined before being put into service.
OSHA Area Director James Mulligan said in a statement that it is "simply inexcusable" that Oxford "failed to train and certify their forklift operators on critical safety requirements."
The citations carry proposed penalties of $46,096, according to OSHA. Oxford has three weeks to respond.
Oxford Airport Technical Services provides workers who process luggage and operate plane-boarding bridges nationwide. NBC10 Boston has reached out to the company for comment on the citations.
