OSHA Actions: Second inspection, fines for construction company
December 1, 2000 2 minutes read
OSHA Actions
Second inspection, fines for construction company
A Florida-based construction firm was cited for the second time this year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for knowingly exposing workers to potentially fatal fall hazards at a bridge near Elizabeth, NJ. OSHA is proposing penalties totaling $217,500.
OSHA cited Damalos & Sons, a company specializing in abrasive blasting and bridge painting, for 14 violations, including two alleged willful violations for lack of fall protection. Another alleged willful violation was issued against the company for allowing employees to leave the work site wearing lead-contaminated clothing and not providing a functioning shower facility. Employees were preparing a bridge over the Rahway River near Elizabeth, NJ, for repainting.
Charles Jeffress, OSHA administrator, announced the penalties and said the employer was resistant to safety measures. "We cited this company for the same violations at the same job site in April," he said. "Still, the owner continued to ignore repeated warnings from OSHA personnel and paint inspectors and engineers that he needed to provide fall protection. His indifference to safety regulations and his reckless disregard for the safety of his employees is intolerable. He must be held accountable."
The citations resulted from an investigation begun last April after OSHA received information that employees at the site were working again at a height of 40 feet over water on suspended cable work platforms without independent safety tie-off cables to protect them from potentially fatal falls. At the time of the inspection, workers were abrasive blasting the bridge to remove old paint containing lead.
Of the 14 violations cited, two were alleged willful violations for not providing personal fall arrest systems for employees working on suspended cable scaffolds. OSHA is proposing $98,000 in penalties for those violations alone. An additional alleged willful violation for not ensuring that employees who are exposed to high lead levels shower at the end of the work shift is being proposed with a penalty of $38,500. Four alleged serious citations were also issued, with $9,000 in penalties, for defective forklift trucks, respirator violations, lack of clean protective clothing, and allowing employees to eat while wearing clothing that had not been cleaned of surface lead dust.
Damalos & Sons, based in Tarpon Springs, FL, does bridge work throughout the eastern United States.
The company employs 50 workers; six of those were working at the New Jersey bridge site. OSHA cited the company on April 25, 2000, for nine alleged willful violations for exposing workers to fall hazards at the same job site and proposed penalties of $456,000. The company formally contested those citations.
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