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A Guam contractor’s repeated failure to secure trenches resulted in more than $1 million in fines.
A New Jersey company is facing more than $819,000 in fines for exposing its workers to fall and silica hazards.
Roofing contractors owe hefty penalties after OSHA observes workers exposed to fall hazards.
OSHA publicizes cases like these in which it issues large fines, as a means of showing its regulatory power and drawing attention to violations. In the second quarter of this year, the agency highlighted that several employers face heavy penalties in various workplaces and inspections.
In construction, these cases often involve homebuilders committing repeated violations, which carry a larger initial penalty. Original fine amounts are sometimes negotiated down at settlement, so they don’t always represent the amount paid.
Giant Construction Corp.
Fines: $1,038,918
Status: Contested
A contractor with a history of allegedly failing to protect workers in the trenches is facing charges $1 million in penalties after OSHA says it has again found employees working in excavations more than 5 feet deep without the necessary safety equipment.
The Honolulu Area OSHA office allegedly discovered employees of Giant Construction Corp., based in Tamuning, Guam, installing sewer lines in several trenches at a job site in Tiyan, Guam. As a US territory, Guam falls under OSHA’s jurisdiction.
As a result, in April, OSHA cited Giant Construction with nine willful violations and two serious ones. Each of the willful violations carries an initial penalty of $112,926.
Since 2014, OSHA inspections of Giant Construction workplaces have resulted in nine violations, including two serious violations and one repeat violation in October 2022.
The company is contesting the fines. Giant Construction Corp. could not be reached. to make comments.
Corps of Road Contractors
Fines: $819,417
Status: Issued
A Long Branch, New Jersey-based roofing contractor faces $819,417 in initial fines due to eight different workplace inspections from November 2023 to March 2024.
In May, OSHA issued Road Contractor Corp. 32 safety violations from those eight statewide workplace visits. The initial citation amounts ranged from $21,293 to $183,261. In total, the roofing and framing contractor faces nine willful violations, 14 serious violations and nine repeat violations.
In each inspection, OSHA alleges it found the company failed to provide workers with fall protection in addition to protection against other hazards, such as exposure to silica hazards without proper training, lack of protection facial and ocular and allow workers to use portable ladders. unsafely
But those were also just the citations in New Jersey highlighted by OSHA. In that same time period, the agency got paid $112,044 in three inspections in Pennsylvania, where Road Contractor Corp. also has a license to work. Those stemming from a deliberate summons and four serious ones at three different workplaces, two in Lykens, Pennsylvaniai one in Wyomissing.
According to OSHA, the company has a pattern of exposure of workers to hazards.
“Since July 2023, we have found in 24 inspections that Road Contractor Corp. routinely exposed its employees to dangerous falls and other safety hazards common in residential construction,” said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA area in Marlton, New Jersey.
The company has no publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
HR Vasquez Construction LLC
Fines: $267,332
Status: Informal Settlement ($44,623)
A Missouri roofing contractor faces $267,332 in April after five fall 2023 OSHA inspections resulted in numerous citations issued in the second quarter.
Federal workplace inspectors allegedly found that HR Vasquez Construction had he failed to protect his workers from falls at five different residential jobsites in Wentzville, Missouri in October and November.
OSHA alleged that the company failed to provide protection to workers as they worked at heights greater than 6 feet and failed to ensure that workers using nail guns wore PPE. HR Vasquez Construction also allowed the improper use of ladders and had not developed a written hazard communication program or initiated or maintained an accident prevention program, according to OSHA.
As a result, OSHA cited the company for 13 total violations: nine repeat, three serious and one non-serious. Since the initial citations, OSHA’s establishment search shows that each fine had been negotiated through informal settlements totaling $44,623.
HR Vasquez Construction has no publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
Maestro Construction Inc.
Fines: $264,407
Status: Issued
In June, OSHA issued Bolingbrook, Illinois-based Maestro Construction Inc two willful offences, two repeated, two serious and one less than serious workplace inspections in December and February.
As a result, the Framing contractor faces $264,407 in total initial fines.
OSHA alleges Maestro Construction exposed workers to fatal falls at two homes under construction in Hanover Park, Illinois. Employees were working at heights of up to 20 feet without adequate fall protection, inspectors said, and the agency says it found the company failed to certify employees about training hazards and required protective equipment staff
Maestro Construction has been cited seven times since 2020, according to OSHA. The company did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment.
13 Construction & Pro Services LLC
Fines: $258,063
Status: Contested
In April, federal OSHA inspectors cited a Missouri roofing contractor for 21 violations for allegedly exposing workers to fall hazards. OSHA claims to have seen workers employed by 13 Construction & Pro Services LLC working exposed at heights five times in seven weeks at Wentzville, Missouri, residential jobsites.
The agency says the company allowed employees to work unprotected at heights greater than 6 feet, failed to have a competent person inspect and assess workplace hazards daily and failed to train employees to recognize hazards. 13 Construction & Pro Services also allegedly failed to ensure the use of appropriate protective equipment or the safe use of ladders.
The company faces 16 serious and five willful violations and $258,063 in initial citations during the inspections. The roof of Lake St. Louis, Missouri, is contesting the fines. OSHA says the contractor has committed 11 serious violations and two repeat violations since joining in 2021.
The company has no publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
Triple A Built LLC
Fines: $233,210
Status: Contested
On October 18, 2023, federal workplace inspectors allegedly found a Kansas roofing contractor putting employees at risk of falls from height and failure to provide required protective equipment at two residential workplaces.
As a result, Triple A Built, based in Wellsville, Kansas, is up against it two separate sets of $116,605 in citations issued in April. OSHA inspectors cited Triple A Built for six instance-by-instance repeat violations for lack of fall protection and two repeat violations for failing to provide nail gun workers with eye and face protection.
Tripe A Built received citations for similar violations in 2021, OSHA reported, and the agency’s database shows the company paid $7,373 of the $10,533. initial fine in an informal agreement. The contractor is contesting the most recent fines.
OSHA implemented citations on an instance-by-instance basis in the spring of 2023. As a result, the agency may issue multiple citations for specific violations when it would have issued only one in the past. As a result, initial fines can increase as companies receive a citation for each worker exposed to a hazard and each day those workers were exposed.
Triple A Built has no publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
