A California-based crane maintenance company has been fined a total of $11,200 for six worker safety violations in connection with the March death of a Tacoma longshoreman and the injury of another worker six weeks earlier.
The two were working on container cranes at the Port of Tacoma’s Pierce County Terminal when the accidents occurred.
The state Department of Labor & Industries this week cited Pacific Crane Maintenance Co. of Long Beach, Calif., for three serious and three general violations in connection with those incidents.
In the more serious of the two incidents, Jeff Surber, 46, of Bonney Lake, died of blunt force trauma while maintaining a container crane at Pierce County Terminal on March 12. Surber was a longtime member of Tacoma Longshore Local 23.