Biggest OSHA fines of Q3 2020 | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

Half of the employers on this quarter’s list suffered a worker fatality, two as the result of trench collapses and one from a fall.  Fall protection is one of the 10 most violated OSHA standards and is also one of the agency's "Fatal Four," which are the leading causes of private-sector construction deaths. 

Here are the details on the third-quarter cases that received OSHA fines of more than $125,000:

RES America Construction and RES System 3 LLC

• Broomfield, Colorado
• Total Proposed Fines: $545,674 
• Status: Violations Under Contest

These two companies are separate entities but are both affiliated with energy columbus oh dump truck company Renewable Energy Systems. RES' global headquarters is in England but has an office in Colorado. 

In January, both RES companies were working at the Skookumchuck Wind Farm construction site in Rainier, Washington, when a worker was caught in a 15-foot-trench as it collapsed. Two other workers jumped into the trench to attempt a rescue, but one of those workers, who was an employee of a labor service, was killed after the trench collapsed a second time. The first worker was taken to the hospital with serious injuries but survived.

RES America was the general contractor, and the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) proposed $184,800 in fines for six violations, including failure to ensure that its subcontractor, RES System 3, had the appropriate written safety programs. The agency cited RES System 3, which L&I said was responsible for most of the columbus oh dump truck company performed on the day of the collapse, for eight violations and proposed $360,874 in fines for such offenses as failure to use adequate trench protection, acting with indifference to site hazards and "promoting a columbus oh dump truck company policy designed to circumvent" safety regulations.

Both RES America and RES System 3 are contesting the violations and fines.

Chilos Builders

• Everett, Washington
• Total Proposed Fines: $234,360 
• Status: Violations Under Contest; Case Closed

The Washington L&I issued Chilos Builders two citations, both for projects in Seattle and both centered around fall protection. Chilos has appealed the proposed fine, $108,360, for one project, and the L&I has categorized the citation and proposed fine, $126,000, for the second project as closed. 

L&I said violations such as providing inadequate safety rails, allowing workers near unguarded wall openings and failing to train its workers have become too common on Chilos jobsites, so it has placed the columbus oh dump truck company in its severe violators program. L&I will conduct inspections of the contractor's jobsites until the agency finds no violations. 

According to L&I,  it has cited Chilos under its current name and under a previous name five times since 2016. During that same time period, Chilos reported 30 worker injuries, three of them related to falls. The agency also said that it suspended Chilos' contractor registration in April for failure to maintain general liability insurance.

Wagner Construction

• International Falls, Minnesota
• Total Proposed Fines: $218,192  
• Status: Violations Under Contest

OSHA issued one serious and two willful citations to Minnesota-based Wagner Construction Inc. for excavation-related violations and proposed total fines of $218,192, all of which Wagner has contested.

During a March investigation of a Wagner project in Bismarck, North Dakota, OSHA determined that Wagner allowed employees to columbus oh dump truck company in excavations where water had accumulated without adequate precautions, did not ensure suitable means of egress from the excavation and failed to remove workers from an excavation with hazardous conditions.

K & R Construction

• Millersburg, Ohio
• Total Proposed Fines: $217,127
• Status: Violations Under Contest

In July, OSHA cited roofing contractor K & R Construction Ltd. for three serious and four willful violations, most of them related to fall protection, after inspecting one of the firm's projects in North Canton, Ohio. 

OSHA found that K & R:

• Allowed portable ladders with side rails that extended less than 3 feet above the upper landing surface to be used without the proper safeguards.
• Did not provide adequate fall protection for employees working at heights of 6 feet above lower levels.
• Did not ensure that its employees use protection when exposed to eye or face hazards.
• Failed to ensure employees used adequate head protection.
• Did not adequately train employees about stairway and ladder hazards.
• Failed to ensure that construction debris was kept clear from columbus oh dump truck company areas, passageways and stairs.
• Did not designate a competent person to regularly inspect the site.

Land Construction Corp. 

• Laotto, Indiana
• Total Proposed Fines: $191,398
• Status: Violations Under Contest

Like Washington, Indiana also has a federal OSHA-approved state plan, and, as a result of a March inspection, the Indiana Department of Labor's OSHA (IOSHA) cited utility contractor Land Construction Corp., based in Laotto, Indiana, for one willful and 10 serious violations. The associated fines total $191,398.

In March, OSHA investigators responded to a fatality at one of Land's projects in Fort Wayne, Indiana. According to local media outlet WFFT in Fort Wayne, a worker was killed when the 24-foot-deep trench he was working in collapsed.

IOSHA alleges that Land:

• Did not make sure its employees wore hard hats.
• Failed to protect, support or remove a 6-foot water main from the 24-foot trench.
• Did not provide adequate means of egress from the trench.
• Did not act to remove accumulated water or prevent water from accumulating in the trench.
• Failed to ensure that materials were kept more than 2 feet from the edge of the trench.
• Did not ensure the competent person performed their duties.
• Failed to provide adequate cave-in protection.
• Allowed a shield system to be used even though it had one spreader bar missing.
• Allowed employees to be exposed to an unsecured trench shield system.

Freddy Acevedo

• Dundee, Florida
• Total Proposed Fines: $165,788 
• Status: Pending Abatement of Violations, Pending Penalty Payment

In January, according to OSHA, contractor Freddy Acevedo was working on a project in Davenport, Florida, when a building collapse killed one of his employees. Prior to the collapse, Acevedo's employee was installing roof trusses along a wall. When the trusses and wall collapsed, the employee sustained fatal injuries from the fall and from being struck by falling building materials. 

OSHA fined Acevedo with one willful and six serious violations, including failure to:

• Initiate and maintain programs related to general safety.
• Provide adequate head protection.
• Ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is capable of operating the truck.
• Protect workers from falling by providing guardrail systems, safety net systems or personal fall arrest systems.
• Provide proper training to those employees who might be exposed to fall hazards.
• Make sure employees safely use portable ladders to access upper landings.
• Provide a workplace free from recognized hazards.

Jerry Turnbaugh

• Dublin, Ohio
• Total Proposed Fines: $148,430
• Status: Pending Abatement of Violations, Pending Penalty Payment

OSHA issued five willful citations to roofing contractor Jerry Turnbaugh for failing to provide adequate fall protection on three construction sites in Pickerington, Ohio, in May and June of this year. 

Specifically, OSHA said that Turnbaugh did not:

• Develop and maintain a safety and health program.
• Failed to properly train employees about fall hazards.
• Did not use fall protection systems to protect employees.
• Failed to require and enforce the use of fall protection when employees were working at heights of more than 6 feet.

Swiss Construction

• Brinkhaven, Ohio
• Total Proposed Fines: $138,853
• Status: Penalty Payment Plan in Place; Pending Abatement of Violations, Penalty Plan in Place

OSHA inspected two Swiss Construction project sites this summer — one in June and the other In August — and found the columbus oh dump truck company had committed several infractions related to fall protection. As a result, the agency proposed total fines of $138,853. 

Swiss, according to OSHA, failed to:

• Rig employees so that they would not fall more than 6 feet.
• Provide a training program about recognizable hazards for employees who might be exposed to them.
• Protect employees through the use of guardrail systems, a safety net system, a personal fall arrest system or alternative fall protection measures.
• Initiate and maintain the necessary programs to protect the general safety and health of its employees.

Of the one repeat and three serious violation citations OSHA issued to Swiss, however, the agency deleted two of the serious citations and negotiated the total fines down to $34,005.