City partners with OSHA to develop construction. safety

• Boston is implementing a new program called the Safe Construction and Demolition Operations Ordinance.
• The ordinance builds on the City’s goal of ensuring that all construction and demolition operations in Boston are conducted in a manner that protects the health, welfare, and safety of workers and the public.
• The work is the culmination of the collaborative efforts among the City of Boston, developers, contractors, OSHA and health and safety advocates.
• Beginning December 1, 2023, the ordinance will require construction and demolition sites in Boston to seek a permit with the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) to submit a Site Safety Plan Affidavit, implement a project-specific Site Safety Plan and implement a Site Safety Monitoring Plan.
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Plant where woman died had multiple OSHA violations

• OSHA is investigating the death of a Trotwood woman who died at the Forvia, Ohio, auto parts manufacturing plant.
• Ken Montgomery, area director of the federal OSHA area office in Cincinnati, said the woman climbed underneath a machine for a job-related task when the machine was activated.
• Since 2013, there have been five reports requiring OSHA intervention and inspection, according to the OSHA website.
• The Warren County Coroner’s Office identified the woman as Taylor Kendrick, 26. The preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
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OSHA didn’t prove a negligent fall

• A judge ruled that a Pennsylvania contractor marketing roof repairs isn’t liable for the fall safety violations of a subcontractor.
• The decision clarified how much control a prime contractor must have over workers to be fined by OSHA.
• The government failed to prove that Ireland Contracting LLC of Glenshaw, Pa., employed or controlled roofing workers who weren’t using fall protection equipment at two residential projects in Gibsonia, Pa.
• In short. there was no proof prime contractor directly oversaw work.
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Contractor cited after workers’ deaths at airport

• Two employees of a Bronx water and sewer line construction contractor were fatally injured in a trench at a construction site at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens on April 3, 2023.
• These fatalities could have been prevented if their employer, Triumph Construction Corp., had ensured proper safeguards, a federal investigation found.
• The two employees were attempting to remove soil from below a concrete slab located within a trench when the slab broke apart and collapsed, fatally crushing both workers.
• OSHA cited the company for four serious violations with $59,153 in proposed penalties.
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