OSHA fines Georgoulis Construction Inc. $54,000 for Hazards at Tewksbury Site

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Georgoulis Construction Inc. for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards for fall hazards at a Tewksbury worksite. The Dracut roofing contractor faces a total of $53,900 in proposed fines.

The citations and penalties stem from an OSHA inspection opened Nov. 10, 2010. An OSHA inspector en route to his office observed employees exposed to apparent fall hazards while driving by 279 Chandler St. An inspection was opened on the spot. OSHA found Georgoulis employees exposed to falls while working atop a roof greater than 6 feet without any fall protection. They were exposed to an additional fall hazard while accessing the roof by using a ladder that did not extend at least 3 feet above the landing surface for required stability.

“The size of this penalty reflects the gravity of the hazard and the employer’s knowledge of its existence,” said Jeffery A. Erskine, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “A fall can occur in seconds but the resulting injuries can be permanent or end a life. There’s no reason for failing to provide this essential and legally required safeguard for workers.”

As a result of its inspection, OSHA has issued Georgoulis Construction one willful citation with a $49,000 fine for the lack of fall protection and one serious citation with a fine of $4,900 for the ladder hazard. A willful violation exists when an employer has demonstrated either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the law or plain indifference to employee safety and health. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Detailed information for workers and employers on construction fall hazards and safeguards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/construction.html.

Georgoulis Construction Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This latest inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Andover Area Office; telephone 978- 837-4460. To report workplace incidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call the agency’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA(6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

OSHA Sticks Plastering Firm with $99,000 in Fines for Fall Hazards

OSHA's El Paso Area Office initiated this inspection on Oct. 19, 2010, when employees were observed working on a scaffold without the use of fall protection equipment at a worksite.

Jan 17, 2011
OSHA has issued five repeat citations to Best Plastering Contractors in El Paso, Texas, for exposing workers to fall hazards. Proposed penalties total $99,000.

"Falls are one of the most common and well-known hazards at a construction site. This is not the first time this company has jeopardized the safety of its workers," said Jack Rector, OSHA's area director in El Paso. "Falls can injure or kill a worker within seconds. It is fortunate in this case that there were no injuries or fatalities."

OSHA's El Paso Area Office initiated this inspection on Oct. 19, 2010, when employees were observed working on a scaffold without the use of fall protection equipment at a worksite. Best Plastering employs about 18 workers at its El Paso facility and eight of them were at this worksite.

Violations include failing to provide base plates and mud sills to prevent scaffolds from becoming unstable, a ladder for safe access to all working levels of the scaffold, training for employees who perform scaffolding work, and fall protection systems such as guardrails and/or personal fall arrest systems such as harnesses to employees working from a scaffold. A repeat citation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

In 2009, the company was fined more than $106,000 and cited with four willful and three serious violations for exposing employees to the same safety hazards.

OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection, such as guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems, be in use when workers perform residential construction activities six feet or more above the next lower level.