Federal officials say there was poor communication and faulty safety monitors the day a crane toppled at The Mill Casino-Hotel in May. No one was hurt in the accident, but safety officials have issued fines.

The crane owner is challenging the citations.

West Coast Contractors was attempting to pull down a concrete wall on May 13 when its Krupp Truck Crane tipped over. None of the new construction at The Mill was damaged.

Almost exactly four months later, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to three companies.

OSHA area director, Randall White, has proposed penalties of $7,500 to West Coast Contractors of Coos Bay, the general contractor; $1,125 to Scott Partney Construction of North Bend; and a 1,500 fine to Accucut Concrete of Coos Bay.

The agency found the safe load indicator on the crane had been malfunctioning for several weeks. White said there should be an audible alarm when an object is considered too heavy and the indicator is working properly.

On the day the crane tipped over, its operator overrode the indicator, OSHA found.

There also were communication problems between the crane operator and a signalman.

The crane operator was the sole West Coast Contractors employee at the site, said David Kronsteiner, the company’s president.

Accucut Concrete was tasked with cutting through steel and concrete at the bottom of the wall. One of its workers was giving instructions to the crane operator. According to OSHA, the Accucut Concrete employee’s hand signals were not the industry standard.

“Which aided in the communication failure between himself and the crane operator, which contributed to the subsequent tip-over of a 45-ton Krupp Truck Crane,” the OSHA citation said.

White said the fines are not set in stone. All three companies have a 15-day period to provide OSHA more information to reduce the penalties.

He even suggested the malfunctioning indicator and faulty hand signals may not be the root cause of the accident.

“The cases are still open,” he said.

Kronsteiner said he expects a fine reduction. He was in Portland on Tuesday meeting with White to discuss the citations. The plan to take the wall down was sound, he said, and even if the safety indicator was working, he doesn’t think it would have prevented the accident.

The plan called for hooking the crane onto the wall and then tilting it over toward the crane. Instead, the wall pivoted and fell the other way, taking the crane with it, Kronsteiner said.

“The plan was sound for getting it down,” he said.

The crane is no longer in service, Kronsteiner said, and all crane operators with the company reviewed what could have been done differently.

This is the first time West Coast Contractors has faced such citations, Kronsteiner said.

There is good reason for him to believe the OSHA will reduce its penalties. Already White deleted a citation against Scott Partney, that its employees were put at risk by the work plan.

White said he was told crews had been instructed to stay away from the wall, both in the area where the wall was supposed to fall and where it did.

The review period is scheduled to end next Monday.