Inadequate Fall Protection Equipment Cited by OSHA At Cityview Construction

Inadequate fall protection equipment was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration  at Cityview Construction in a recent inspection. The agency issued a number of citations to the New Jersey-based construction company, following information that a Belleville worksite, managed by Cityview, featured construction workers who were provided inadequate fall protection equipment, OSHA conducted an inspection. The inspection, conducted on February 22, 2016, yielded a total of sixteen violations, including one “willful” and fourteen “serious” violations, among others. For these violations, OSHA has issued a proposed penalty of $193,053.

Upon inspection, the worksite showed that construction workers were working on the third floor, on scaffolding, with no or inadequate fall protection equipment for a potential three-flight fall onto a concrete floor. For this violation, OSHA issued a “willful” citation. The various “serious” violations came as a result of infractions related to unguarded or improperly guarded machinery, electrical hazards, scaffolding hazards, and other fall hazards. In addition to the aforementioned violations, City view Construction was also found in violation for improper management of their inspection records.

OSHA Parsippany Area Director, Kris Hoffman, said, “Falls remain the leading cause of death for construction workers, which makes Cityview Construction’s failure to protect its employees hard to believe. Proper safeguards, in this case, are, truly, a matter of life and death. This employer jeopardized the safety of its workers by violating basic OSHA standards. We cannot tolerate such actions and encourage the community to contact OSHA when they believe workers are being put at risk.”

Of the inherent risks associated with construction, falling is among the most dangerous. Violations due to a lack of adequate fall-protection equipment and scaffolding infractions are very common. Besides being both common and dangerous, these violations are also easily avoidable by the average construction employer. One resource available to the construction industry employer is an OSHA-approved construction certification course. Not only is such a course considered requisite for the construction-site worker, but a larger discussion is featured which will educate the construction employer as to how to avoid a variety of costly violations and improve whatever safety processes are already in place