Half-million in penalties for construction company
A Florida-based construction firm has been hit with nearly $500,000 in penalties by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for knowingly exposing workers to potentially fatal fall hazards at a New Jersey turnpike bridge.
OSHA cited Damalos & Sons Inc., a company specializing in sandblasting and bridge painting, for 14 violations, including nine alleged willful violations for lack of fall protection. Employees were preparing a bridge over the Rahway River near Elizabeth, NJ, for repainting. OSHA is proposing that the company pay $456,000 in penalties.
"The owner of this company is well aware of OSHA’s fall protection standards," OSHA Administrator Charles Jeffress said in announcing the fines.
"He was notified by OSHA personnel and consultants hired by the New Jersey turnpike that he needed to provide fall protection, but he would not comply. His indifference to safety regulations and his reckless disregard for the safety of his employees is intolerable. The action we’re taking today is more than justified," Jeffress added.
Tips led to investigation
The citations resulted from an investigation begun last December after OSHA received information that employees at the site were working 40 feet over water on suspended cable work platforms without safety harnesses and lanyards to protect them from potentially fatal falls. At the time of the inspection, the employer was erecting scaffolding for the planned bridge work.
Of the 14 violations cited, nine were alleged willful violations for not providing personal fall arrest systems for employees working on suspended cable scaffolds.
OSHA is proposing $441,000 in penalties for those violations alone. Four alleged serious citations were also issued, with $9,000 in penalties, citing fall protection, scaffolding, and highway barricade violations.
Finally, OSHA issued one alleged repeat violation, with a proposed penalty of $6,000, for not having a life-saving boat available for employees working over water. (The company was previously cited for the same violation in May 1998 at a work site in Decatur, AL.)
Damalos & Sons is based in Tarpon Springs, FL, and does bridge work throughout the eastern United States. The company employs 50 workers; 13 of those are working at the New Jersey bridge site.
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