Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corp. is facing fines of $168,000 for the deaths of two linemen, John Loughran and Joseph L. Boyd III, who died in a tragic crane accident in Bourne earlier this year.

According to OSHA, the deaths of the two workers in the crane tip-over April 12, 2014 could have been prevented if their employer, Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corp., had set up and operated the crane according to the manufacturer's instructions and trained employees in its proper operation.

The 34-year-old linemen were working from a raised personnel platform attached to an Elliott 40142 truck-mounted crane. They were working on power lines on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal, when the crane overturned and fell more than 150 feet to the ground.

"These deaths were preventable," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts, in a recent statement. "The employer did not refer to or use readily available and necessary information that would have allowed this work to be conducted safely. This lapse placed two workers in harm's way and needlessly cost them their lives."

OSHA cited Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corp. for two willful violations of workplace safety standards, as well as four serious violations, including not using load charts to determine the crane's minimum boom angle, not using an aerial lift, allowing the crane to operate at greater than 50 percent of the rated capacity for its configuration and for failing to conduct a trial lift of the personnel platform prior to use.

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