Downtown construction near-miss prompts DBI review request

Connor Moore told the Building Inspection Commission that on Aug. 30 an 8-foot schedule-40 steel flagpole attached to a Malcolm Drilling rig fell into a busy pedestrian area at First and Mission, narrowly missing him.

“My wife and I… it came down sort of like a spear,” Moore said, describing photos he provided to the commission and saying site staff initially ignored his pleas for assistance. He said a superintendent from Swinerton later spoke to him after he said he would call police and that workers appeared to remove or hide the flag before addressing the incident.

Commissioners asked staff to follow up. Commissioner Gilman requested a report on protocols for flags on rigging machines and said she wanted staff to investigate the specific Malcolm Drilling incident and the company’s site safety practices. The commission asked Moore to leave contact information so staff could respond.

DBI staff told the panel that accident response often falls under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration jurisdiction, but that DBI staff would coordinate internally and could return with a report. The commission did not take formal action beyond requesting staff follow-up.

The commission’s discussion made clear the immediate request: a staff investigation into what happened on the site, whether DBI and the contractor have appropriate on-site protocols, and whether flags affixed to rigs should be removed or otherwise regulated to limit hazards.

Next steps: staff agreed to investigate and report back; no formal enforcement action or ordinance change was adopted at the meeting.