Workplace Death In Edison: Painting Contractor Faces Increased Fines, Feds Say

Edison, NJ – Federal authorities have more than doubled a fine levied against a New York-based painting contractor after a tragic workplace accident left one worker dead and another seriously injured at an Edison construction site in 2012.

On May 6, an administrative law judge for the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission affirmed the recommendation by the U.S. Secretary of Labor to increase penalties against Tower Maintenance Corp. for its part in the death of the worker in 2012.

OSHA officials described the incident that led to the fines against Tower Maintenance:

“As the painter worked at a height of approximately 70 feet, the man inadvertently contacted an energized power line and fell from the tower, striking a second employee painting on the tower below. The second employee fell from the tower about 40 feet to the ground. The employee who contacted the power line suffered fatal injuries and the second employee survived the fall, but suffered multiple serious injuries.”

OSHA officials added:

“An OSHA investigation of the 2012 incident found Tower Maintenance employees were repainting a series of electric transmission towers supporting high-voltage power lines. The difficult work required employees to climb the towers, which are over 100 feet tall, and apply paint to the towers' surfaces as they climbed. Employees told inspectors that they worked so close to the energized power lines that they could feel the hair on their skin stand up. Despite the extreme and obvious hazards of the work, Tower Maintenance refused to provide the employees with functional fall protection equipment and failed to provide the employees with any safety training.”

After launching an investigation into the incident, OSHA issued three citations to Tower Maintenance and proposed a total penalty of $35,000 for the violations.

Tower Maintenance then chose to appeal the proposed penalty, OSHA officials said.

“During litigation, the secretary discovered additional facts withheld from OSHA investigators,” the federal agency stated in a news release. “The secretary learned that several employees requested new fall protection equipment prior to the fatal incident but Tower Maintenance denied the requests, instead directing painters to use the faulty equipment or to work with no fall protection at all. The secretary also learned that Peter Vlahopoulos, the company's project director and the husband of the company's owner, previously owned an industrial painting company that accumulated numerous OSHA citations related to inadequate fall protection.”

Following a hearing from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the company now must pay $91,000 in fines, $56,000 more than originally assessed, OSHA officials stated.

The company’s website describes it as a “woman-owned and managed enterprise based in New York, specializing in commercial and industrial services within the construction industry.”

“We are dedicated to provide the highest quality of work and insure that adherence to federal, state and local regulations are maintained,” the website states. “Tower Maintenance employees receive OSHA 10 and special safety training.”

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