Repeated penalties from OSHA can escalate to fines into the six figures.
- Large chain stores, such as Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General, have been central figures in these violations.
- A violation at any of the chain’s thousands of stores around the U.S. can prompt repeated citations and escalating fines if the same issue is found at any of the outlets.
- Big chain stores are especially vulnerable to repeat citations because OSHA considers the companies a single employer although they have thousands of chains.
- The maximum for a repeat or willful violation fine is 10 times higher than for just a serious violation.
Maryland contractor with 136 violations faces more penalties
- VD Construction Services LLC of Hyattsville, Md., residential framing contractor – cited for 136 willful, repeat, serious and other violations in 20 workplace safety inspections since 2020 – is under investigation again.
- In the most recent case, the company failed to provide workers with the required fall protection equipment.
- The firm set up and used extension ladders in an unsafe and improper manner, and did not ensure that workers using pneumatic tools had eye protection. O
- SHA cited the company for three willful and three serious violations and proposed $87,429 in penalties.
Tree company employee killed
- OSHA is investigating C&J Tree Company of Stillwater, N.Y., after a 38-year-old employee of the company was killed on the job.
- Investigators are trying to determine if the death of James Bova II of Watervliet was due to any workplace violations.
- It could take up to six months to complete the investigation.
- Foul play does not appear to be a factor.
Contractor faces safety violations for roofers
- A federal workplace safety inspector observed five roofers atop a Wrightstown residence, working at heights up to 23 feet without required fall protection.
- The inspector later found the fall protection equipment piled in a bucket on the ground next to a work truck.
- Another inspector observed three workers without adequate fall protection on a roof in Seymour.
- The agency identified the failures as two serious violations and proposed penalties of $37,293 for Overhead Solutions Inc. of Suamico, Wis.