Paul Berger

Staff writer, @pdberger

During an investigation by The Record and NorthJersey.com earlier this year, a private firm denied that the men and women they employ to secure the George Washington Bridge had legitimate concerns about being struck by suicidal jumpers, being shocked by equipment in leaky guard booths, and suffering because they didn't have timely access to bathrooms.

When asked about these problems, Daniel Sepulveda, a vice president for Summit Security Services, said: “None of the conditions you refer to existed, then or now.”

But dozens of documents released in March by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in response to a freedom of information request by The Record show that a federal health investigator found evidence of all those conditions during a probe in 2014.

The investigator also noted in an official report that Summit officials were uncooperative and inaccurate in response to requests for incident reports, complaints, injury records, policies requiring protective equipment, safety and relief breaks at the bridge.

“They refuted the allegations but they refused to provide any of the documentation that was requested,” the health official noted in the report.

The federal agency fined Summit $12,000, which was later reduced to $4,000.

A lawyer for Summit, Ian Bogarty, when told of the OSHA documents, said allegations of unsafe working conditions at the bridge are “wholly unfounded.”

“Summit Security fully cooperated with OSHA and provided all requested information and documentation in connection with any inquiries about the GWB job site," Bogarty wrote. “It is our understanding that all inquiries were addressed and resolved to OSHA’s satisfaction and no matters remain outstanding. As a result, we will not respond to your summary of purported statements contained in an investigatory file from 3 years ago that we have not seen.”

John Bilich, the Port Authority’s acting chief security officer, launched a probe of work conditions at the bridge following The Record investigation. Bilich told the agency’s board of commissioners in February that although he believed the booths are a safe distance from falling objects, at least one booth would be moved farther from the span.

SECURITY SUFFERING: Current and former guards spoke to The Record about poor working conditions

OVERHEAD DANGERS: Fear of being struck by items falling from GWB is one of the main concerns raised by security guards

WORKING CONDITIONS: GWB security guards say they have to relieve themselves in bottles, cups or on the bridge itself

Security experts have told The Record that guard health and safety is an important aspect of securing the bridge, a crucial infrastructure link that carries 330,000 motorists daily and that is considered a terror target.

The guards, who earn between $30,000 and $35,000 a year, prevent people from accessing prohibited sections of the bridge, call in traffic accidents on the span, look out for emotionally disturbed people who may be contemplating suicide and monitor suspicious activity.

Suicide has become an increasing problem at the bridge in recent years. On average, one or two people are intercepted every week before they attempt the jump. An additional person dies every three weeks after jumping from the span.

Guards stationed 200 feet below at the base of the bridge in parks on either side of the Hudson River have said there have been several instances when people jumping off the bridge have landed close to the areas they patrol.

In the OSHA documents, the federal investigator noted that in response to the risk of being struck, guards were told to “look up” and to wear a hard hat. In March 2014, a guard reported that a body landed 12 to 13 feet from a guard booth.

The problem continues for the guards.

In February of this year, two jumpers landed in parks below the bridge on the banks of the Hudson.

One, a 52-year-old man from Fort Lee, jumped to his death on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. The man’s body landed less than 100 feet from a guard booth in Fort Lee Historic Park.

Another, a 23-year-old man who jumped on the New York side of the river, landed close to the Little Red Lighthouse, a historic landmark within 200 feet of a guard booth in Fort Washington Park.

The guards make regular foot patrols as part of a round-the-clock security operation. But two guards said they had been told by their employer to limit how far they walk from the booth following the suicide in Fort Washington Park.

Guards also complained to The Record about having to wait so long for a bathroom break that some guards have to relieve themselves in public or in bottles. Because some of the guard booths are located a mile or more from a bathroom, they must wait for a relief driver to take over their post while they drive to a restroom.

The health investigator found that because of staff shortages, guards were discouraged from taking bathroom breaks. Some guards waited up to one or two hours before someone was available to relieve them. One security guard reported suffering a urinary tract infection because of having to wait so long.

“At the start of shifts employees were told that only one relief driver would be on duty to dissuade them from asking for relief breaks and otherwise discouraged them from asking,” the health official found.

Guards told The Record that the relief driver shortage persisted through last year, but improved slightly following the article in The Record.

As for the risk of electrocution, the health inspector said that was abated when Summit removed extension cords and portable heaters from the guard booths, which become wet in inclement weather.