Bay Bridge welders' gripes fell through the cracks

In the continuing story of the Oakland Bay Bridge Welders scandal, the bad news just keeps coming. One thing's clear: something wrong was going on at that project.

"Cal-OSHA inspectors failed to investigate fully a formal complaint made in late October alleging continued exposure of excessive manganese and other welding fumes to Bay Bridge workers.

In June, a Cal-OSHA letter to contractor KFM Joint Venture stated that workers had been exposed to similar conditions, which KFM Joint Venture knew existed, for more than a year.

The second complaint, in October, made by seven current and former workers, sat for about three months because of the original investigator's job reassignment, said Cal-OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer, adding that the allegations were not considered an imminent hazard.

The investigation was picked up in January when a new Cal-OSHA investigator asked one of the complainants, who had since been laid off, to track down information about conditions on the job site, Fryer said.

The investigator wanted more information about what type of welding the worker. were doing to determine if they were using equipment known to create the excessive fumes and particulates, the spokesman said. Automated welding exposes workers to more fumes than other types of welding, Fryer said."

In a June letter to Cal-OSHA, Kiewit denied workers were consistently exposed to excessive welding fumes and particulates.