Drinking on the job is both illegal and potentially dangerous. But a KOMO 4 Problem Solver hidden camera investigation discovered workers drinking on the largest construction job in the state: The 520 Bridge construction project.Our hidden camera video tells the story: Numerous workers are shown with a beer in their hand, or at their desk, in the middle of the afternoon."People drink pretty heavily, I mean, it's all over the place," said our source, who asked to remain anonymous. She was at the site daily for two months, and was so disgusted by what she saw she asked us to step in. She told us people here drink every day of the week.
"Every day," she said. "On Monday through Thursday, some people have one, two, three. On Friday, it's a six-pack."But this isn't just any business, it's the project headquarters for the 520 Bridge replacement. That's a $586 million contract ultimately paying for these workers to drink on the job."You would think that somebody, some supervisor, somebody would say, 'Hey we can't do this. This isn't allowed,' " our source said.In fact, it's not allowed. State law prohibits alcohol in the workplace.
"Anything that clouds your judgment is going to be a problem," says Hector Castro, spokesman with the state Department of Labor & Industries. "State rules are very clear: Alcohol and drugs are prohibited from the workplace."KGM, a joint venture firm of Kiewit, General and Manson contractors won the bid to design and build the 520 floating bridge. It's a complex and complicated project. All the design work and project oversight happens at the Bellevue project office on 112th Avenue NE. Both KGM and state Department of Transportation - WSDOT - employees work there in what's called a "co-located" office.
No comments:
Post a Comment