Driving around Bethel and
Danbury, I often see contractors working without fall protection.
The U.S. Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) published a press release on April 5
announcing that it was citing a roofing company after an employee was paralyzed
following a 20-foot fall at a commercial worksite last October. The business
was also hit with $115,000 in proposed penalties.
Three of the violations that
federal agents documented were classified as willful. They related to
a lack of proper fall protection and training on how to use
this safety
gear, and the company's failure to guarantee the stability of
the roof the individual was working on.
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"It is unacceptable that ----
Roofing knowingly failed to evaluate working conditions and provide workers
with fall protection to prevent severe
injuries," stated Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas
City, Missouri, in the release. "Falls remain the leading cause of death
and injury in the construction industry, and companies who perform this type of
work must take responsibility for protecting their workers on the job."
Because of the severity of
these alleged transgressions, the Kansas company was put in OSHA's Severe
Violator Enforcement Program. This initiative was designed to target repeat
offenders and those that have willful infractions on their record. These
businesses are subjected to surprise and frequent inspections.
Find out what's happening in Bethelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
If you are CEO and your
workers are exposed to fall hazards, you may want to consider logging onto
OSHA's Stop Falls page. Here, you'll find plenty of information
ranging from the important of identifying potential dangers, how to use fall arrest
systems and various other rules and regulations that can help keep everyone
within your company out of harm's way.
