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OSHA often draws attention to cases where inspections result in heavy fines as a means of highlighting safety best practices.
The biggest cases often revolve around residential builders, usually with a documented history of failing to provide workers with adequate protection against fall hazards. Repeat citations can increase overall initial fines, and a citation issued in the fourth quarter of 2023 used an updated rule change that increased the cost by issuing a citation each time there was a violation.
Companies often dispute the fines and negotiate with the agency to reduce the cost.
Here are some of the largest initial fines announced by OSHA during the fourth quarter of 2023:
Wagner Construction Inc.
Fines: $1,862,284
Status: Contested
OSHA announced stiff fines for a Minnesota water and sewer contractor after settling repeated citations at North Dakota jobsites in 2019 and 2020.
The agency gave International Falls Wagner Construction fined more than $1.8 million for allegedly not protecting the workers in the trenches. After an inspection of a Minot, North Dakota, job site in June, OSHA cited Wagner Construction with six repeated violations in each instance for exposing workers to collapse hazards due to a lack of safety systems. adequate protection. In addition, the company faces five other repeat violations on a case-by-case basis for failing to provide a safe means of exiting and entering the excavations.
A rule change in March 2023 expanded OSHA’s use on an instance-by-instance basis dating The fines, which increase with each worker exposed to a hazard, give the agency additional firepower to cite workers. The rule was updated to help OSHA cite particularly egregious contractors.
Because Wagner settled with the Department of Labor in 2021 and committed to better protecting employees, OSHA applied the rule on an instance-by-instance basis. Repeat citations also carry a higher price.
The company also failed to move soil piles at least 2 feet from the edge of the excavation at least twice and failed to provide workers with head protection at least three times, OSHA said.
Wagner is contesting the fines. Construction Dive reached out to the contractor but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Elite Roofing Services Inc.
Fines: $522,527
Status: Contested
A federal OSHA inspection found that a Huntington, New York, the roofing contractor could have avoided fatal fall of a worker in April 2023 at a job site in Glen Cove, New York.
The agency said Elite Roofing Services failed to provide workers with fall protection, such as guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems. Employees were installing metal roofing on a flat roof when a worker fell 20 feet to a concrete floor. The work was under OSHA’s steel erection standard.
OSHA’s citations included six willful violations, one for each worker exposed to fall hazards, and one serious violation for failing to train workers on proper fall protection. Initial fines totaled $522,527, but the company contested the fines at the beginning of November.
Construction Dive was unable to locate contact information for Elite Roofing Services.
Emanuel Enterprises LLC and ICI Construction Inc.
Fines: $315,643 total
Status: Contested (Emanuel Enterprises)
A federal OSHA investigation into a June roof collapse at a high school project in Friendswood, Texas, that killed one worker and injured three others has been found. two Houston contractors failed to complete an engineering survey prior to demolition.
ICI Construction, the general contractor, and Emanuel Enterprises, the demolition contractor, failed to complete a survey, OSHA said, allowing the demolition to continue even after the hazards became apparent. OSHA claims the companies directed employees to continue working under the structure that would eventually collapse on them.
The agency cited both companies for ignoring the federally required survey and also cited Emanuel Enterprises for three serious violations for failing to protect workers from silica exposure.
ICI Construction faces $140,633 in initial fines for its single citation, while Emanuel Enterprises’ citations totaled $175,010. The latter is challenge the fines.
Both companies declined Construction Dive’s request for comment.
Elmer Miller
Fines: $278,452 total
Status: Contested
On two occasions, a month apart, inspectors discovered workers on the jobsites of an Illinois roofing contractor. work at height without any fall protectionOSHA said in a statement.
The agency said employees of Elmer Miller, operating as Miller Building Systems LLC, worked at heights of more than 18 feet while framing homes on June 26 and again on July 26 on a subdivision project in Savoy, Illinois.
Miller faces one serious and one voluntary violation for the June occurrence, with initial fines reaching $90,853 and three serious and two volunteers violations in July, with initial fines totaling $187,599. The company is contesting both fines.
OSHA said it has cited Miller and the companies he operates 20 times in the past 10 years, assessing more than $900,000 in penalties, most of which have not been paid. The agency said the violations stem largely from failures to protect workers from fall hazards while performing roofing work.
Construction Dive was unable to locate contact information for Elmer Miller or Miller Building Systems.
John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc.
Fines: $200,905
Status: Contested
A federal OSHA investigation found a concrete East Freetown, Massachusetts The contractor did not follow the required standards when an employee suffered fatal injuries on September 6, 2023.
The agency said John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc. ordered an employee to remove a floor screen from a conveyor belt. The worker was crushed between the conveyor belt and its frame because the company had failed to ensure that the power supply to the conveyor belt was turned off to prevent an unintended start-up while the employee was performing maintenance.
As a result, the contractor, operating as Oliveira Brothers, is facing $200,905 in citations for six violations: three malicious, two serious and one less serious. The Oliveira brothers are contesting the fines.
Construction Dive could not reach the company for comment.
