Scaffolding Dangers Hit Pennsylvania Contractor Again

Pennsylvania-based stucco contractor, B.C. Stucco and Stone, was recently cited for four citations related to employee exposure to scaffolding dangers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the most recent citations, issued May 20, 2016, regard inspection of a Nov. 25, 2015 site in Bear, DE. At the site, a remodeling job for which Schorn Construction Co. was the general contractor, B.C. Stucco was cited with one serious and three willful violations. B.C. Stucco and Stone have been cited for OSHA violations in the past, as recently as May 2, 2016. The proposed penalty for the most recent violations is set at $95,000.

OSHA Wilmington Area Director, Erin Patterson, said, “BC Stucco and Stone continues to make production the priority over ensuring a safe workplace for its employees, which is intolerable. This contractor is well aware of OSHA standards for safe scaffolding, but consistently disregards them and allows its workers to use scaffolding in such poor condition that even a small human error could lead to dreadful outcomes.”

Scaffolding Dangers Violations

Willful violations included:

• Allowing workers on scaffolds approximately 18-feet high that were not fully planked or decked.
• Using scaffolding which did not feature a safe means of access or exit.
• Using scaffolding which feature unguarded edges and which lacked guardrails, fall hazards up to approximately 18 feet.
• Failing to provide scaffolding-related safety training to each employee working on said scaffolding.

Serious violation included:

• Failing to provide and mandate the wearing of protective head-gear for those employees involved in operations on fabricated-frame scaffolding.

Because of the inherent danger associated with scaffolding-work, it is crucial to provide and require protective headgear for employees. Furthermore, it is important that all scaffolding meet OSHA specifications, with regard to access and exit points, and that all scaffolding feature safety railing. Without these and many other mandatory regulations met, scaffolding dangers can provide a pitfall for both contractors and employees.

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