A New York contractor was fined recently by OSHA for serious violations. The company reportedly had workers on scaffolding for a 23-story hotel project. The contractor did not provide adequate fall protection, despite the fact that the employees were up as high as 26 feet. Accordingly, OSHA fined the company $249,900 for the serious violation. The company contested the citation against them, arguing that the company had tried to correct the conditions and claiming that the corporate executives were not aware of the fall hazards. An administrative law judge rejected the argument and upheld the fine. OSHA fines are an important deterrent for companies, especially when it comes to serious issues like fall prevention. Unfortunately, OSHA typically fines and cites companies after something already goes wrong. Employees need to know what their rights are if a work injury occurs. A New York workers’ compensation law firm can provide help to injured workers or family members of those who are killed while on-the-job.
OSHA Upholds Fine
The regional administrator for OSHA indicated that the New York contractor “knowingly put employees at risk of falls, which are the leading cause of construction worker deaths.” The decision by the judge upheld the findings of OSHA and the OSHA administrator indicates that the decision by the judge to uphold the fines was an important reassertion of the fact that employers are not allowed to ignore legal responsibilities to prevent serious injury among their workers. OSHA has been increasing its enforcement activities against employers who fail to follow rules for fall injuries, as this has increasingly become a problem with the rising levels of construction that are occurring in New York. OSHA fines also increased 78 percent on August 1, so employers can expect to face even more significant penalties if they do not follow the guidelines to prevent falls. Just recently, OSHA cited and fined five contractors a total of $115,200 for multiple safety hazards, including mostly fall protection violations, which occurred on a three-building apartment complex. General contractors like the one fined in this case in NY, as well as those fined in connection with the three-building apartment complex, are increasingly being held accountable for injuries even when the general contractors are not actually present on the job. General contractors have also been facing an increased risk of criminal charges. For example, in New York, a general contractor was recently found guilty of manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of a 22-year-old on one of their construction sites. Since it is employers who need to make adequate provisions for fall prevention, the fact that OSHA is cracking down on this issue could hopefully help to save lives. If a fall does happen, it does not matter if employers were in violation of safety practices or not. Workers’ compensation benefits are available to injured workers, regardless of whether any negligence happened on the part of employers. Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff can provide help to either injured victims or family members of those whose loved ones were killed in a fall. Contact an attorney as soon as possible for assistance.
