The general public often does not appreciate the risks that facility construction and maintenance activities present to the front-line technicians who perform them daily. But maintenance and engineering managers are fully aware of these risks, which they acknowledge by ensuring technicians have the safety training and personal protection equipment necessary to keep them safe on the job. Too often, however, such risks have dire results.
Two workers were killed in a construction accident at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport recently, according to NBC News. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the two workers got trapped under construction rubble.
A spokesperson for the city Fire Department said it happened in a trench near the airport’s busy Terminal 7. About 60 firefighters worked to remove the workers from the trench, the Fire Department said.
Both workers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor of the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
