Mass contractor, Twin Pines Construction faces fines of $290,700 for fall protection and related OSHA violations. This contractor is one of the latest announcements by Region 1 OSHA (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont).
In a volunteer position (Chairman of Government Affairs) at EMNARI I speak with OSHA Outreach Personnel about fall protection training, enforcement and compliance. Recently I explained that there seems to be a lot of resistance from residential contractors. OSHA said there are many enforcement cases in the works and some will be released publicly via the OSHA newsroom. The OSHA announcement on 5/28/2013 is one of the many to come. OSHA is aggressively enforcing residential contractors and sub trades especially in Mass, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
OSHA Enforcement Map; the OSHA Department of Labor Enforcement Data 2.5 logs all OSHA violations and penalties by state, violated standard and year. The site also has a map with red pins showing the towns/cities where contractors and companies were visited by OSHA and received citations for OSHA violations. The map is a sea of red in Mass, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Contractor doesn't hire unsafe subcontractors; requires written safety program/plan and fall protection certifications
One of my fall protection class students told me he uses this site to see if his sub contractors have been caught working unsafe. He told me he wants to make sure unsafe subs do not work on his projects. He said once someone has violated an OSHA standard they are then on OSHA's radar for additional visits. Hiring unsafe subs to work on your site such as OSHA non compliant roofers, painters, gutter installers, framers and siders is like putting an OSHA COME FINE ME SIGN in front of the house.
Unsafe contractors can lead to an increase in insurance premiums. He said he requires subcontractors to provide a safety program/written plan with employee training certifications especially for fall protection. Lastly he includes clauses in the subcontractor agreement requiring compliance with all recognized OSHA Standards while working on his job site and has the subcontractor sign it!
Published OSHA Inspections & Violations in Massachusetts and Connecticut for
2012 and 2013 (Jan to April) 
OSHA Enforcement Activity |
Mass 2012 |
Mass 2013 |
Conn 2012 |
Conn 2013 |
|
OSHA Inspections |
1866 |
377 |
1180 |
283 |
|
Violations |
3418 |
649 |
3940 |
722 |
|
Penalties |
5.7 Mill |
1.15 Mil |
4.7 Mil |
1 Mil |
|
Exposed Employees |
32,701 |
6252 |
23,347 |
3658 |
|
Here is a list of the violations that the Mass Contractor Twin Pines was fined for:
- Lack of Fall Protection Training
- Ladder misuse
- No face protection for workers using pneumatic guns (safety glasses)
- Ungrounded electrical cords
- Missing handrails
- Inadequate bracing of trusses
- Missing fire extinguishers
- No protection from falling objects (hard hats)
- Have a fall protection training program and written plan for Subpart M, L, and X.
- You must make sure that workers are properly trained before they are exposed to hazards on your jobsites. Then make sure you observe them using the practices in the field (effective training).
- Certify that your employees have been trained by a competent person and maintain the certification in your recordkeeping.
- Use PFAS, Safety Nets and/or Guard Rails
- Require hard hats and safety glasses to protect against falling and flying objects.
