In Region 1 (New England), OSHA allows contractors the opportunity to reduce their fines by 50% if they meet certain eligibility criteria. The policy is called the Expedited Informal Agreement Settlement or EISA. Typically there are on average three citations on a job site.   Three SERIOUS fines can add up to $21,000.00. If you qualify for EISA saving $11,500.00 will be a big help.  

I recently helped a contractor client to get his fines reduced and the 50% reduction paid for the safety equipment he was needed to have to protect his workers.

The chances of having your construction job site inspected by OSHA are extremely high if you are a residential contractor. Citations and fines for fall protection violations are again on the top of the 10 most cited listed. OSHA's number one enforcement focus is fall protection in the residential industry. 2014 OSHA inspections are up over 60% over 2013!  The question is not if, but when will your job site be inspected by OSHA? 

What happens when your site is inspected?

The OSHA officer will have reason (probable cause) to come into your site.

Then he/she will Identify themselves and tell why they are there. You can deny them entrance however be forewarned that they will likely come back with a warrant and the calvary. This bad faith will likely disqualify you for a 50% reduction in fine amounts.

Once on site, they will conduct an opening conference, assess the site and speak to your workers. You will have the opportunity to abate unsafe conditions immediately. 

In a recent Estimating Workshop a contractor said "I don't know how much I am making until I finish the job and pay all the bills! 
To many contractors that is an all to familiar scenario. Contractor and remodelers are discovering that being a good business person is just as important as being a great craftsman.
This contractor got me thinking about a few things;

• How can you run your business and live your life if you are uncertain about what you are going to earn?
• How can you accept a contract for a project without knowing all your costs down to the dollar?
• How can you determine if you can lower your price if you are not sure of your costs?
• Will your uncertainty cause problems on the home front?
• Will the uncertainty lead to frustration and worry and take you off your game?
• If an opportunity to purchase or invest in something comes along will you have the confidence to make the investment?

This contractor working on a Main St in West Harwich, Ma was photographed by another contractor riding by. The contractor was in one of our fall protection trainings and he tells me that he is seeing activity like this all over Cape Cod.

The saying "out of sight and out of mind" applies to many contractors who choose not to follow OSHA rules. Many contractors tell me they are not too concerned with OSHA stating "we will worry about compliance when we are visited. In a recent post I reported that most of the contractors in our fall protection trainings were only there because they were cited and fined.

This got me thinking;
What will happen to your business if you are cited and fined by OSHA?

Can your business really afford a fine?
Will there be other costs as a result of an unplanned job site inspection?

Will the fines and auxiliary costs come at the worse possible time and impact your ability to pay your bills?

 

A contractor and subcontractor were fined for fall protection violations on the same roofing project in Sterling, Massachusetts. The contractor, Labelle Roofing and subcontractor Manuel Antonio Enriquez Patino are posted on the OSHA enforcement website. The site visit was the result of someone making a complaint.
There are several possibilities why more than one contractor can be cited and fined on the same job site on the same day.

• Multiple contracting companies working on the site at the same time can be cited for their own unsafe work practices. When one contractor's work triggers (RED FLAG) an inspection the CSHO will look at others in view on the site. 
• Under OSHA's Multi-Employer Citation Policy the controlling or prime contractor can be be fined on the same job site for allowing unsafe work by their subs. This includes General Contractors, Remodelers, Construction Managers, Roofing, Siding and Home Improvement Contractors who have a responsibility under the OSH Act to have a safe work site for all workers.

Here are the details of the Sterling Mass Fall Protection and Ladder Violations

You will notice in the picture that the there are two men on the upper slope of the Gambrel roof. They are not wearing fall protection harnesses. Next look at the two ladders that are set up to access the porch and the upper roof. Both ladders are not set up three feet above the roof edge. The ladder to the upper slope is set at an angle more than 4:1. The ground where the ladder is set is messy. Here from the OSHA enforcement website you can see the results of the contruction job site inspection. The standards violated are listed;

In 2010, OSHA announced countrywide that residential contractors are required to follow the revised fall protection standards. Contractors are telling me that four years later there are still thousands of contractors ignoring the rules. In recent trainings all but one of our contractor students signed up because they were cited and fined by OSHA for failure to have fall protection while working 6 feet or more above lower levels and a few other offenses.

Why do some architects take homeowner's money to design projects without confirming the set aside target budget range? They often produce plans that are incomplete and leave it to the contractor to come up with the rest of the details by making assumptions and using allowances. Then when bid prices come in over the homeowner's budget the contractor is blamed. 

A few weeks ago Chris Pierce wrote me about his recent long and painful recovery from a fall of a ladder. My first thought was thank God he was alive. Then in a subsequent note he told me he had two friends who were also in a fall accident. One broke his neck falling through a skylight and one was killed after falling 170 feet working on power lines on Cape Cod. I wrote back I am speechless and do not know what to say.

Following is a video for residential contractors regarding the requirements to follow fall protection rules in the OSHA standards. OSHA is very active trying to get the residential contractors on board to follow fall protection rules and most are not doing it. In fact, many contractors are ignoring the rules even though they are well aware that fall protection must be followed. OSHA's educational outreach is the carrot approach and appears to be failing. 

A Mass contractor was fined for allowing his men to carry heavy objects up a ladder to a roof. In OSHA Subpart X, Ladders it says in section 1926.1053(b)(22)