OSHA Fines Weymouth Contractor After Worker Falls 30 Feet

While climbing a scaffold at a Brookline, Massachusetts job site, an employee of a masonry contractor fell 30 feet. After the fall accident, when OSHA inspectors visited the job site, they found that it lacked a ladder or other safe means of accessing its upper levels. They also discovered that the contracting company had not provided workers with fall protection while working on the scaffold. Safety regulations require employers to provide fall protection for each employees on a scaffold that is higher than 10 feet above a lower level.

As a result of these alleged unsafe conditions, OSHA issued two willful citations against the masonry company, totaling $56,000 in proposed fines. OSHA also determined that the scaffold was not fully planked and that workers were at risk for electrocution, because the scaffold was located less than 18 inches from uninsulated and energized power lines. The company also received two serious citations in $5,600 in proposed fines.

The Weymouth-based company faces $61,600 total in proposed fines and has fifteen business days from receipt of the citations to comply, contest the findings, or take part in an informal conference with OSHA’s area director.

Source: OSHA Fines Contractor $61,000 Following Worker’s 30-Foot Fall, OHSonline.com, May 27, 2010
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