New Hampshire contractor faces $152K in fines for repeatedly exposing workers to potentially fatal falls and other hazards
Following a complaint of unsafe conditions at a High & Dry Roofing work site in Manchester, N.H., OSHA inspectors found that employees were working at heights over 20 feet without fall protection and proper ladder safeguards. Inspectors returned two days later and found the same hazards existed. OSHA cited owner Michael Cahoon with ten violations, proposing penalties of $152,460. Violations include setting scaffolding too close to a live electrical line, failing to provide workers with fall protection, hard hats and eye protection, and failing to safeguard workers from contact with operating parts of an air compressor. Cahoon was cited in 2012 for similar violations at two other New Hampshire worksites. The company has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. For more information, read the news release.
Dollar General store in Texas fined more than $162K after exposing workers to hazards
The Dollar General Corp. was again found to have exposed workers to hazards, this time at a store in Sherman, Texas. OSHA cited the company for five safety violations with proposed penalties of $162,800 for failing to: keep exit routes unobstructed; keep work space clear around the electrical panel; ensure that portable fire extinguishers were mounted and accessible; and clearly mark an exit route. “Dollar General stores nationwide have repeatedly been cited for exposing their workers to hazards posed by overstocking issues, while promising time and again to take corrective action,” said Josh Bernstein, OSHA’s acting area director in Fort Worth. Since 2006, OSHA has received complaints from Dollar General employees in 21 states and has cited the company for 240 safety violations. Read the news brief for more information.
Pennsylvania company named a ‘severe violator’ after worker killed in trench collapse
An employee working inside a 12-foot-deep trench was killed when an adjacent trench wall collapsed and buried him. His employer, Williamsport, Pa.-based Susquehanna Supply Company Inc., had been working under contract for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. OSHA issued citations for two willful violations for lack of cave-in protection. Proposed penalties total $140,000. Susquehanna Supply was placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program* due to the willful violations and the company’s extensive history of violations dating back to the early 1970s. Read the news release for more information.
State Plan enforcement cases
The following is a recent example of an enforcement case from a State Plan state. For more examples of state and federal enforcement cases, visit OSHA’s online enforcement penalties map.
Inspectors from the Washington Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued $261,000 in fines to Wall to Wall Tile & Stone of Vancouver for failing to protect workers from exposure to silica dust and other health hazards during stone slab grinding activities. The employer was cited for multiple instances of “failure to abate” serious violations after a follow-up inspection found that the employer had not corrected violations cited in November 2014. For more information, read the Washington DOSH news release.
For more information or assistance with your Environmental and Health & Safety regulatory compliance needs, contact Ralph Carito at Total Environmental & Safety, LLC (Total) at rcarito@TotalEnviron.com or 908-442-8599.