Another Mass contractor has been fined by OSHA for numerous fall protection violations. OSHA publicly states that the contractor, A S General Construction from Framingham, Massachusetts exposed their workers to potentially fatal fall hazards at several job sites. The listed violations and OSHA fines include failure to provide fall protection, no hard hats, no safety glasses, bad ladders and scaffolding, ladders set at the wrong angle, using ladder scaffolds over 20 feet and much more. There are 16 total violations; 7 Serious, 2 Willful and 7 Repeat fines totaling $188,760.00. Thankfully no one was hurt or killed on their sites.

Look carefully at the list of citations and you will see what OSHA is looking for on residential job sites.

See the citiation here

I did two fall protection trainings last week and in each training I covered every item that AS General Construction were fined for and more. I was shocked to see so many violations listed. We have been trying to let contractors know that OSHA is focusing on the residential construction industry and when they see no fall protection they will stop by and start an inspection. We also remind contractors that OSHA is expecting to see hard hats, safety glasses and proper ladder and scaffolding use. The days of OSHA ignoring  safety on residential job sites are gone.

There are basics steps a contractor must take to protect his workers from fall and job site hazards. Failure to do so not only causes fines but leads to crippling injuries and tragic deaths.

Recently I conducted three fall protection training sessions after a worker death. Each time the cause was simply not following basic fall safety rules similar to the violations seen below.

Here is a list of 10 safety items every contractor needs to have for a safe company;

1. Develop and implement a safety program and manual.
2. Train and certify all workers before they are exposed to hazards and use equipment. For fall protection you must train OSHA Standards Subpart M (Duty to have fall protection), Subpart L (Scaffolding) and Subpart X (Stairs and Ladders).
3. Conduct job hazard assessments (JHA) before every job.
4. Provide fall protection equipment and train each worker on proper use and care.
5. Write a Personal Protective Equipment Plan (PPE) and train all workers on use and care.
6. Require that all employees wear hard hats.
7. Require that all employees wear safety glasses.
8. Institute a written safety adherence policy for every worker and enforce it.
9. Develop and implement an equipment inspection procedure and write and then train a lock out tag out program.
10. Conduct job site safety meetings on a weekly or more frequent basis until all workers are on board. Then as often as needed to ensure complacency does not set in.

Mass Contractor Fines Published

Here is the list of the contractor's fines right from the OSHA website with each standard cited. 

 Thank you for reading and please share with contractors you know.

Contact Mark if you need help on your safety program or training..