Today, the County of Santa Clara decided to terminate its contract with Turner Construction. Turner is years behind schedule for completing the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and is costing the County thousands of dollars a day in lost revenue. In addition, last year’s steam explosion at the Medical Center, which injured workers, raised questions about the company’s safety procedures.
The firing of Turner Construction shows serious flaws with the way the company was handling its project. There were grave safety issues on the worksite, massive cost overruns and subcontractors who had gone a long time without being paid. Some have speculated that Turner was spread too thin, trying to complete Levi Stadium and the Medical Center at the same time. A lack of resources and oversight meant that safety concerns were not limited to just one construction site. The Levi Stadium project had its own set of complications including the exclusion of minority businesses and the tragic death of two workers.
This is a major black mark on the reputation of one of the nation’s largest construction companies.
At least the workers on the Medical Valley project have had some assurance that workplace safety will improve and that Turner’s poor performance won’t cause them to lose their jobs.
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