Conference 7.286::digital

    Just heard on the radio that a wall collapsed, and so far 20 people
    have been taken to Marlboro hospital.
    

    someone please keep us up to date with the latest details please.
    
    bob
    

Let's make sure that people understand that this accident should NOT affect the
operations or production at the current HLO site for our VAX or Alpha AXP chips!

Some of our competition would like nothing better than to use this event to
spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about Digital and Alpha.

I hope there are no serious injuries for the contruction workers and that
they have a speedy recovery.


Bill Z.

The current generation and the next generation of ALPHA AXP and VAX chips will be
built in the EXISTING fab in HLO. The new building is for "fab 6", which we will
need in 18-24 months.

Please correct the press or your colleagues the accident  will NOT  and does NOT
affect current production!!!  Digital does not need any delays in revenue
or sales and PR time spent fighting the wrong message!



Bill Z.

I just heard the news -- from a collegue who was at home this morning.  
Apparently a buddy of his at CNN (remember, they're based here in Atlanta)
called to see if we could get any further information regarding this 
accident.

Thanks to you guys, I have relayed the previous pertinant information (re. 
production) to my collegue who should get this back to his buddy ASAP.

All this may not have been the official means of channelling information
to the press, but I felt it best to "do the right thing" and get it out
ASAP.

-Andy

    
    Andy,
    
    It appears that you "broke the rules" and "did the right thing", all
    in one action. (Of course, the latter may no longer count for
    anything...)
    
    I think it's critically important that we get the correct word out
    before our competitors start saying things like "Roof Caves In On
    DEC's Last Great Hope". Waiting for the corporate spokesperson does
    not seem like the right thing to do in this case.
    

	A friend forwarded this to me.  Posted without permission.

From:	FSOA::ELMAN "BONNIE * MRO1-3/P3 * 297-9969 JUST DO IT!  07-Jan-1993 0953"  7-JAN-1993 10:00:09.78
To:	@SEC.DIS
CC:	ELMAN
Subj:	ACCIDENT AT HLO ALPHA CONSTRUCTION SITE

You've probably heard of the tragic construction accident at HLO's ALPHA
facility......currently there are 20 people still unaccounted for (presumbly
all construction workers) and many have already taken to UMASS in Worcester
by ambulance and helicopter.

The medical center has issued an URGENT plea for blood donations and especially
type 0 but any type blood is needed.   Please call UMASS at 856-6355 if you
can go to donate.

Mary-ann Schram has provided the updates thru her sister who works at UMASS.
No one is being allowed to enter or leave the HLO area at this time due
to the ambulance activity currently going on.

As I receive more information, I will let you know.
PLEASE ASK THOSE IN YOUR GROUP TO CONSIDER DONATING BLOOD AT UMASS.

Thank you very much.
Bonnie

From:	CADSYS::PROPER "07-Jan-1993 1029"  7-JAN-1993 10:32:52.52
To:	@SITEMAIL.DIS
CC:	
Subj:	SITEMAIL: Construction Site Update


+---------------------------+ TM
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| d | i | g | i | t | a | l |		I n t e r o f f i c e   M e m o
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+---------------------------+


To:  All HLO Employees 		    	Date:  7 January 1993
  			  		From:  Ed Caldwell
     					Dept:  Semiconductor Operations (SCO) 
     		 			Ext:   225-5036
     					L/MS:  HL02-2/M12
     		 			Node:  SHARE::CALDWELL
     
 
Subject:  Construction Site Update

At approximately 8:30 a.m. this morning, an accident occurred
on the construction site.  Approximately 13 people have been injured - no
Digital employees were involved.  The extent of injuries are unclear 
at this time.  It is important that all HLO employees remain on the site 
to keep traffic clear for emergency vehicles.

As more information becomes available, we will keep you informed.

Regards,
Ed Caldwell

    The blood blank at U Mass said that if people cannot get to Worcester
    to donate; it would still help their efforts to donate at other area
    hospitals (i.e. Emerson in Concord). U Mass receives blood supply  the
    through Red Cross Assoc, so presumably we can help by donating at any Red
    Cross affiliated hospital.
                           
    Jonathan

PNS DOW Story - Digital Equipment Says 12 Hurt At Construction Site >DE
C

Size: 597
                PNS Delivered by OSAG Advanced Development:
        DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY AS PER INFORMATION PROVIDER LICENSE:


  MAYNARD, Mass. -(AP-DJ)-- Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) said the collapse of
a roof at a Digital construction site in Hudson, Mass., has caused injuries to
more than a dozen workers.

  Digital officials said that, as yet, they do not know the precise number of
injured workers or the extent of the injuries from the roof collapse which
occurred at about 8:30 a.m. today.

  A Digital spokesman said the construction site was for a new building to
make next generation computer chips and not at a nearby facility that is
currently producing the company's new Alpha chip.

-0- 1548GMT
% ====== Internet DOWvision Codes
storyCounter: 3714
Storydate: 01/07/1993
Headline: Digital Equipment Says 12 Hurt At Construction Site >DEC
transmissionTime: 1048
Time: 1048
categoryCompany: DEC
categoryIndustry: I/CPR
categorySubject: N/EWR N/INV N/WER
categoryMarketSector: M/TEC
categoryGeographic: R/MA

	Worldwide News                      LIVE WIRE
	
	Update on construction accident at Fab 6 site 

  Thirteen construction workers were injured in today's construction 
  accident when a concrete slab collapsed during construction of Fab 6 in 
  Hudson, Mass.  No Digital employees were injured.  The majority of injuries 
  were described as cuts and broken bones, and one worker was reported 
  seriously injured.  The workers are employees of S & F Concrete of Hudson.  
  The slab was being poured on the second floor of the building.  No one was 
  under the slab when it collapsed.

  LIVE WIRE will continue updates as more details are available.

    I'm planning to go donate at UMass this afternoon. They are open until
    4:45. Does anyone know where to go at UMass to get to the donating
    room? I've never been inside there before.
    
    Thanks
    Debbie
    

	Worldwide News                      LIVE WIRE

	Fab 6 update:  Blood donation rumors false;
	accident does not affect Alpha production

  This morning's accident at the Fab 6 construction site in Hudson, Mass.
  spawned a false rumor on the network about "an urgent need" for blood 
  donations at the U. Mass. Medical Center in Worcester.    

  Blood is not needed in response to today's accident.  

  However, U. Mass always appreciates blood donations.  Digital employees who 
  want to donate blood can do so beginning Monday.  To make an appointment, 
  call U. Mass. at (508) 856-3851.

  The accident affected only Fab 6, the building under construction, and does 
  not affect the current Alpha AXP production line. 

    re .16
    
    Use the Patient Entrance that faces the parking garage.  Go straight
    through the lobby area to the first major crossing hallway (only a 
    few yards from the bldg entrance) and bear right.  You'll see BLOOD
    DONOR ROOM painted in large letters on the wall.

Alas, it appears my concern for getting accurate information to my collegue 
did not go unnoticed by our Public Relations department (obviously because 
of my stupidity in posting the earlier note thanking you guys for the info).

I suppose the accuracy of the information I relayed could have been called 
to question so, in retrospect, perhaps I reacted prematurely.  Still, I
thought I was acting in the best interests of the company and therefore
cannot say I regret what I did (though I know my UM and DM do <sigh>).

I will say to whomever felt it necessary to report my action down my chain 
of command, you can rest assured it will not happen again.  I learned a 
valuable lesson today:  Keep your mouth shut, even if you do want to try 
and do the right thing.

-Andy

PS.  I was told later the CNN representative apparently had the same 
     information by the time my collegue got back with him so it had
     no effect on their story.

    re .19
    
    As they say, "No good deed goes unpunished." - !
    
    I'm sorry to hear that your intent was not appreciated by some.  I,
    too, felt you were protecting the interests of us all.
    
    Thank you.

    Isn't it amazing how quickly the insignificant action causes a
    reaction, while those things that can make or break us drag on for
    months/years?
    
    Don

	Worldwide News                      LIVE WIRE

            Ed Caldwell updates Hudson employees on Fab 6 accident 

  Ed Caldwell, vice president, Semiconductor Operations, sent the following 
  message to employees in Hudson, Mass. regarding reports of a memo about site 
  safety that was referenced in news reports about Thursday's accident at the 
  Fab 6 construction site.

     ------------------------------------------------------------------

  I want to update you on the incident that occurred Thursday at the 
  construction site.  As of Friday morning, only two of the injured 
  construction workers remain in the hospital.  I want to thank everyone for 
  their efforts in supporting the site during yesterday's incident.

  Several news stories and TV reports have made reference to a memo that 
  described safety conditions at the construction site.  For your information, 
  on December 22, Industrial Design Corporation (IDC), our building designer, 
  sent Marshall Contractors, Inc., our general contractors, a memo about some 
  construction procedures and copied Digital.  The issue discussed in the memo 
  related to a potential safety question concerning concrete pouring.  The 
  issue noted was completely unrelated to the location and circumstances of 
  yesterday's incident.  Also, the issue discussed in the memo was handled 
  within the next day (December 23), and the concrete flooring in that section
  of the building was successfully poured.

  In a project of this magnitude, where safety is top priority, there is 
  continuous discussion of all the aspects of the construction, including 
  potential safety issues and topics.  These discussions are routinely 
  documented in memos and minutes of meetings.  Action is taken, and the action 
  is verified, before construction continues. 

Many forwards removed ... 



Subj:	What really happened at Hudson

What really happened at Hudson last week...

It started out much like any other day, and at the building site
which will be FAB6 they were pouring concrete to create a honey-comb floor for
the upper level of the fab.  The floor has holes in it to allow air ducts to 
pass through from the line underneath.  This is built by creating a reinforced
plywood floor, supported for the most part by scaffolding props.  On top of the
ply are large formers which create the honeycomb.   In the case they could not
prop the whole floor, and one end was supported from outside the building.

The concrete had been poured and shoveled, and a crew of finishers were out
troweling flat the wet cement at the partially supported end.  Something failed
on the external supports, and the floor just broke away.  The 13 workers tumbled
down into a heap at the bottom, amidst drying cement and steel work.   Lots of
bruises and one strained back.

So far Digital had no involvement -- Digital staff are only allowed on the
construction site under escort from the contractor.  The contractor called
the Fire Department to get some help, explaining that a floor had collapsed at
Hudson.  The Fire folks concluded that one of the office floors had given way,
trapping some hundreds of staff under concrete.  Its a Class 1 Disaster!

The Fire Department called the hospital who sent their 22 Ambulances straight
away. The hospital called the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA, who called the Mill.  "Accident?  What accident?" asked the Mill folks,
since no one had informed them of what was purely a contractor problem.

The OSHA folks in Mass jump to the exciting if unrealistic conclusion that
there was a cover up going on, and decide to act on their own.  They call OSHA
headquarters in Washington, DC.  "Wow, a class one disaster, in office beside a
semiconductor fab?  Really, we'd better send some people up straight away!" 

Indeed they did, six specialists in recovery of trapped people, structural
engineers who can remove sections of buildings without them collapsing, medical
experts, the works.  These lucky people dropped their work, hired a private
jet, flew to Boston, rented a helicopter and flew as fast as possible out to
Hudson.  They were not too pleased when they found 12 bruised workers and one
with a bad strain.

CNN has spies everywhere, and all the press watch CNN.  CNN heard of the Class
1 disaster, and sent a crew to Hudson to see what was happening.  So, we have a
private helicopter, 22 ambulance, and a TV crew.  As the day went on more and
more journalists arrived, until there was a total of 149 crews on site looking
for a class 1 disaster.   There were so many cars that they were parking in
front of the local Shaws market.

By now Digital's network was being flooded by mail messages of doom, and a call
for blood donations for the local hospital.  This resulted from someone's relative
who worked in the hospital calling into DEC to report that there had been a
Class 1 disaster.  The hospital never did send out an official call, that was
the good-intentioned reaction of someone in Digital.

So, some construction workers got hurt, a lot of relatives of Hudson staff had
bad frights, a few folks flew up from Washington, the incident made CNN for a
couple of hours.  A local journalist even managed to find a document describing
a minor problem, already fixed, in one of the existing buildings and got that on
TV too.

Can you say "Send reinforcements, we're going to a Dance"?

	Worldwide News                      LIVE WIRE
 
         Minor accident reported at Hudson, Mass. construction site

   A minor construction accident was reported today at the HLO site 
   in Hudson, Mass.  A crane carrying scaffolding tipped over, causing 
   slight exterior damage to the HLO1 facility.  There were no injuries, 
   and construction at the site continued without interruption.
    

	Call the fire dept! Call Channel 5! Get the helicopters! Call
	CNN! The sky just fell around Hudson!

							mike

    
    This is no joke.  The accident itself might be minor, but I'm
    beginning to wonder about the construction company.  I'm not
    so sure I'd feel safe if I was working for them.
    
    Steve
    

I agree with .26, this is an abnormally high accident rate.  And in my opinion,
neither accident should have happened with proper safety practices and
engineering procedures.  Especially the crane tipping over.

    
    If the construction company is this careless with their work habits,
    what does it say for their construction habits?  Will the building
    be as poor?  Will it be safe to work in?
    
    Better hope OSHA and the inspectors do THEIR job.
    
    

    
    Don't overreact.  Look at the company's record, these may be the only
    accidents which have happened in 10-20 years it just so happens that
    they happened at Digital's site.  Speculation on what the company's
    safety record may or may not be could be damaging to their reputation
    and could be quite unfounded.  Don't overreact.  
    
    
    Mike
    (10 years construction experience)

    
    Could be that the construction company reports all accidents (small
    or large). Some companies do not.
    
    bc

    
    Re: .29
    
    If the company had only two accidents in the last 10-20 years
    and they were both at the same site on the same job, then I'd
    be even more concerned that something was going on there that
    was out of line.
    
    fwiw,
    Steve
    

    
    Some jobs are a nightmare, nothing goes right.  Some jobs, nothing goes
    wrong.

    
    Re: .32
    
    Look, I'm not faulting individuals, but a collapsing floor and a crane
    tipping over are not acts of God.  They are consequences of previous
    action or inaction that can be prevented.  Such things are not inevitable
    where a little continuous improvement is practiced.
    
    fwiw,
    Steve
    

    Large construction projects are a little more hazzardous
    than typing on a keyboard.Some accidents can't be prevented,
    if they could, we wouldn't have the word.Their record appears
    to be pretty good.
    
    Mike

    The possibility that with the changing weather that we have had 
    lately might play into this problem with the crane.  You know,
    frozen ground thawing partially......unevenly....that could cause
    a piece of machinery to become unbalanced very easily.

    justme....jacqui

	... since there's a 30+ story crane about 50 yards east of my office 
on a demolition project.  You should see that dude sway when the wind picks
up and they're lowering a hunk of concrete!

re:  accidents are inevitable...

Coming from the Air Force where we work with heavy equipment in some of the 
most nasty of places, I can say without a doubt, that if a crane or anything
like it, tipped over, somebody would be in some deep doo...

Things like that are NOT accidents, they are generally negligence...

Being safe is time consuming and requires commitment, but it is not a black art
and it too, is no accident...

/mike (whose been there)

re:  .39

I agree.  I was a field clerk on a large construction project and listened to
a conversation between the company owner and the head of the project.  A crane
had tipped over.  The owner fired the crane operator.  The head of the project
told the owner that the crane operator was a good crane operator.  The owner
said that if he thought that was a good crane operator, then he was fired also.

    I'm all for safety and I encourage you to work safely, but I doubt that
    the construction guys in Hudson read this notesfile, so...
    
    Mark

    Sounds like the "three stooges construction company". Maybe we could
    send them to Iraq to help old Saddam re-build.
    
    Ken

	BOSTON (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department faulted two New England
contractors and a Florida-based engineering firm Wednesday for the
collapse of a building under construction in Massachusetts earlier this
year.
	Sixteen workers were injured on Jan. 7 when a second-floor concrete
support collapsed at a Digital Equipment Corp. construction site in
Hudson, Mass., sending them plunging into the wet cement below.
	The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has
proposed a combined $41,000 in fines against three firms for
deficiencies in the building's design and unsafe conditions at the
worksite.
	OSHA proposed $25,000 in fines against S&F Concrete Contractors of
Hudson, the contractor which was installing a concrete floor system when
the support collapsed. The 16 injured workers were S&F employees.
	Investigators charged S&F with five serious violations, including
failure to inspect the supports before the wet cement was poured in.
	Marshall Contractors Inc. of Rumford, R.I., the general contractor of
the Digital project, was assessed $8,000 in proposed fines for two
serious violations, including failure to inspect the site.
	OSHA proposed $8,000 in fines for the project's engineer,
International Form Corp. of Jacksonville, Fla. Investigators said the
design of the concrete formwork support system was flawed, and could not
support ``reasonably anticipated loads.''
	The building, which was due to be completed by 1996, was designed to
manufacture Digital's new and highly touted Alpha AXP semi-conductor
chip.
	The companies have 15 days to respond to the proposed fines.


Article 1722 of clari.local.massachusetts:
Path: sousa.tay.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!looking!clarinews
From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.computers,clari.local.massachusetts
Subject: Agency faults contractors, engineer in Digital construction collapse
Keywords: corporate news, corporate finance, computers, manufacturing,
	government agencies, government operation
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
X-Supersedes: <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 26 May 93 10:04:24 PDT
ACategory: financial
Slugword: digital
Priority: regular
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 286/259; Id: z3657; Sel: xxfcn; Adate: 5-26-1ped; Ver: 1/1
Approved: [email protected]
Codes: yfcnrxx., ybfcrxx., ybgarxx., //nf--f/
Lines: 27
Xref: sousa.tay.dec.com clari.tw.computers:1530 clari.local.massachusetts:1722

    Re .-1
    
    I'm aghast. $25,000 that is pocket change. These companies nearly
    killed 5 people and they'll get fined up to $25,000 only. Bet if
    somebody had really got injured and it went to court there would be a
    lot more to pay than that.
    
    Dave

re. .-1

You're right.  $25,000 is pocket change compared to what insurers of 
those construction companies will be paying to the folks injured...

    The funny thing is that the injured workers sued everyone BUT S&F
    Concrete and they were levied the highest fine. 

>>>    The funny thing is that the injured workers sued everyone BUT S&F
>>>    Concrete and they were levied the highest fine. 

Under US workers' compensation laws, workers cannot sue their employers for
injuries. They can sue just about anyone else peripherally involved, however.

This is why some workers with repetitive stress disorder, for example, sue the
manufacturers of the equipment. They cannot sue the employer.

Vicki Meagher