Maryland firm facing $87,429 in penalties
- A Maryland residential framing contractor has been cited for 136 willful, repeat, serious and other violations in 20 workplace safety inspections since 2020.
- The continues to be investigated by OSHA for allegedly exposing workers to falls from elevation, the construction industry’s most lethal hazard.
- , inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently found.
- OSHA said VD Construction Services LLC of Hyattsville, Md., failed to provide workers with required fall protection equipment and other safety measures.
- OSHA cited the company for three willful and three serious violations and proposed $87,429 in penalties.
Fatal falls can be prevented
- OSHA uses a term called the “Fatal Four” to describe the top causes of fatalities and injuries on the job site and falls is at the top of the list.
- There are ways to prevent these incidents such as developing a specific plan for the job site and planning ahead before every job.
- The work site should also be prepped to avoid injuries and the correct equipment must be made available for the workers.
- Employers must make sure the workers are properly trained and daily walk-throughs must be scheduled to ensure continued safety.
OSHA investigating spate of workplace deaths in Pa.
- OSHA in Harrisburg is investigating 21 workplace fatalities since October 2021.
- Of the 21 investigations, five were COVID-19-related deaths with one being a care home employee and two of the deaths were electrocutions and three employees died from fall-related injuries.
- Eight of the cases involved an employee being crushed, struck, or run over by an object, including the collapse of a chicken barn in Gettysburg on August 1.
- Twelve of the case investigations remain open at this time and thirteen of the investigations began in 2022.
Florida power company to pay $500,000 fine
- Tampa Electric Co. must pay a $500,000 fine associated with an incident that resulted in the deaths of five workers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
- The company was sentenced in federal court in the Middle District of Florida after pleading guilty to a charge of willfully violating an OSHA rule.
- The criminal charge related to an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in 2017 that caused the death of five workers.
- Five people were killed when one of the slag accumulations came loose after spraying an area with molten slag.