5 OSHA Penalties on Construction Companies this 2024
By implementing stringent safety regulations, OSHA is vital in ensuring workplace safety within the construction sector. These rules are designed to prevent incidents that could lead to injuries or fatalities among workers. Nevertheless, when contractors fail to comply with these standards, OSHA imposes fines as a form of enforcement.
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1. Adrian Construction Group ($1,017,248)
An OSHA citation was issued in February to a contractor in Paterson, New Jersey, for frequently putting workers in danger of falling. In July 2023, the department issued six intentional infractions for fall and eye protection and four major offenses for hazardous scaffolds and headgear at a Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, project.
As a consequence of the violations, the framing contractor was subject to fines totaling more than one million dollars. Accordingly, since 2016, the government has inspected Adrian Construction Group five times and cited it for fall protection violations. Subsequently, the organization was included in the Severe Violators Enforcement Program of OSHA.
2. Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors ($308,125)
Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors reported that on August 10, 2023, while two workers were positioned in a trench box, the adjacent soil collapsed and engulfed them. As mentioned, one worker, aged 20, was fatally injured, and the other was taken to the hospital.
In March, the plumbing contractor in Macon, Georgia, was issued two willful violations for failing to provide workers with trench barriers and failing to guarantee a safe escape to the trench box. In addition, the company is facing three significant penalties for permitting personnel to enter the trench without sufficient training or protection.
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3. Brothers Construction Services ($306,229)
OSHA's allegations that it once again exposed employees to potentially catastrophic falls led to a growing number of citations for a roofing contractor in Framingham, Massachusetts, during the most recent quarter. An OSHA inspection of a residential construction site in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston in August reportedly revealed employees working at heights of up to 20 feet. Therefore, Brother Construction Services, known as Brothers Construction and Roofing, was fined $306,229 in February. Eight citations resulted in each fine: three willful, three repeat, one serious, and one other-than-serious.
4. K&D Plumbing ($184,387)
After entering a maintenance hole in July 2023, a journeyman plumber working for K&D Plumbing, situated in Silver Creek, Georgia, lost his footing and fell twenty feet to the bottom of the sinkhole. He died as a result of injuries sustained internally.
In light of this, OSHA issued a citation to the contractor for failing to create and implement a permit-required restricted-area entry program. The strategy should have included testing and ventilation of the space before permitting employees to enter. Moreover, based on the allegations by OSHA, K&D Plumbing is also facing six significant violations for the absence of ladders and safe means of evacuation from a trench that was six feet deep and contained other dangers that were not mitigated.
5. Sky Ridge Construction LLC ($103,438)
The Oregon OSHA fined the Bend construction business $103,438 for repeatedly breaking the rule to provide personal protective equipment to safeguard workers from fall dangers that might seriously hurt or kill them, which occurred on many occasions. Following an inspection of a construction site where new dwellings were being built, the division issued a citation to Sky Ridge Construction LLC.
Furthermore, upon inspection, it was discovered that numerous workers worked on a roof without any form of fall protection. On the other hand, the company rectified the offense that Oregon OSHA found while it was being inspected. Since January 2022, Sky Ridge Construction has been found in violation of fall protection regulations for the third time. As a result of the repeated violations, the penalty for the infraction was increased, and the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration imposed a penalty of $103,438.
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