The Orangeburg company that employed a man who died after he fell while working on a bridge was fined for several safety violations in the 1990s, records show.

Carolina Bridge Co. officials were questioned by an Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator Thursday after Jason Kinsey, 21, fell 80 feet into the Congaree River and died. Kinsey's safety harness was hooked to the scaffolding that landed on top of him.

It was the Orangeburg company's first serious accident, OSHA documents show. But in June 1994, the company was fined $6,270 for six serious violations during construction on a bridge over the Broad River in Gaffney.

Officials from Carolina Bridge Co. could not be reached Friday.

The company failed to provide life jackets for employees working over water, ring buoys with at least 90 feet of line for rescues and a lifesaving boat, according to OSHA documents obtained by The (Columbia) State.

The only other violation was in June 1991. Records show it also was serious and resulted in a $560 fine but didn't specifically say what the violation was.

Carolina Bridge was close to completing a $612,163 contract with the state to repair the two-lane, 54-year-old bridge at U.S. Highway 601 between the Congaree Swamp and the headwaters of Lake Marion.

Kinsey and two other men, Dan Nickel and Randall Jepson, were working on the bridge when the scaffolding collapsed Wednesday.

Kinsey and Nickel fell into the water, while Jepson dangled from a rope he was harnessed to and was rescued 40 minutes later.

Divers pulled Kinsey's body from the water Thursday.

Nickel hit a barge that was floating near the bridge then fell into the river. He was taken to a hospital and released Thursday.

Neither Kinsey nor Jepson was wearing a life jacket, officials said, and it was unclear whether Nickel was wearing one. The crew also had no OSHA-required lifeboat buoys in the water in case of emergency, rescuers said.

OSHA's investigation into the scaffolding collapse likely will take several weeks, said Jim Knight, spokesman for the state Labor, Licensing and Regulation Department.

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