An estimated 1,200 tons of concrete and debris fell, killing the workers and injuring five others, including the crane operator. Fortunately nearly all of the other 700 construction workers at the site had been removed as a precaution during the roof lift. The shock caused by the crane's collapse was severe enough to be measured on the nearest seismograph at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Construction work is one of the deadliest occupations in America.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 94 workers lost their lives in crane accidents alone in 1997, up from an average of 77 deaths a year between 1992 and 1996. At the same time 38,980 ironworkers on construction sites were injured badly enough to lose time from work. The families of the victims are only eligible to receive death benefits equal to four years of pay. Under Wisconsin's workers compensation law, it is almost impossible to recover damages from employers even if they were guilty of gross negligence. Generally the death of workers on the job barely rates a mention in the US news media.