OSHA Fines in Construction

In the Construction World

As the construction industry continues to grow, falls continue to be the leading cause of death.  Source: http://www.bls.gov

The private construction industry saw a net increase of 25 fatal work injuries after updates were added, resulting in a revised count of 899. The 2014 total was 9 percent higher than the 2013 total and represented the largest number of fatal work injuries in private construction since 2008.

January 14, 2016- OSHA has proposed penalties of $36,000. Investigators determined that two workers were installing metal roof sheets on a structural steel building when one of the workers stepped into an opening created by the removal of the adjacent metal roofing sheet and fell.

January 15, 2016-OSHA proposed penalties $65,000.  OSHA also found employees exposed to fall hazards because ladder ways and platforms lacked guard railings.

Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, with 337 deaths reported in 2014, up from 291 in 2013 and 279 in 2012, according to OSHA.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration slapped Phoenix-based Design Plastering Inc. and Design Plastering West LLC with a $407,400 fine for the death of one of its construction workers in Dallas.

"It is heartbreaking that it takes a fine of over $400,000 to get the attention of an employer, rather than the employer seeing that these workers' lives are much more important than finishing the job quickly," he said. Today, OSHA issued eight "egregious willful" and four "serious" citations against the Phoenix company.  "We issued citations for every one of those workers," Michaels said. "Each one of them was put in this situation where they could have been killed. One was killed."

Summary of Penalties for Inspection Number                      1063007

Citation 1, Serious                                                                          $15,400.00

Citation 2, Willful                                                                           $392,000.00

TOTAL PROPOSED PENALTIES                                               $407,400.00

In the General Industry World

Feb. 1, 2016-OSHA prioritizes general industry inspections using the most recent BLS "Days Away, Restricted or transferred" rates and its "Days Away From Work Injury and Illness" rates. Hazards related to lifting and other ergonomic stressors will also be evaluated.

The emphasis program focuses on manufacturing industries where injury and illness rates exceed the average for the private sector. Included are manufacturers of the following products: food, furniture, fabricated metal, nonmetallic mineral, machinery, and computer products as well as printing and related support activities.