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.

The winter of 2016 has begun and with it the possibility of storm damage from ice dams and snow and falls from roofs. Last year Massachusetts had thousands of insurance claims and many are still unsettled. In addition we had many die from falling while clearing snow from roofs.

Another worker without fall protection, fell to his death in Massachusetts. Last week on 1/14/2016 in Sutton, Ma. 22 year old Ricardo R. Oliveira fell 25 feet while working on a job site at 449 Central Turnpike. He was transported by a life flight helicopter to a Worcester hospital. He died a few days after succumbing to his injuries. I doubt he went to work thinking he was going to die but that is what happened. 

Here's how it goes...someone falls and gets killed, someone gets injured, or OSHA audits a job site and cites/fines the contractor. Then after the unsafe act, the contractor has incentive to get on board with OSHA safety, compliance and training. Next the concern for other workers getting hurt, threat of large fines for not protecting and training them, lawsuits and increase workmans compensation rates compels the contractor to adopt safety protocol.  

New Year's Resolutions for Residential Contrators from Attorney Andrea Goldman of Goldman Law 

In 2015, many Mass (CSL's) Construction Supervisor License holders opted for live continuing education for their CEU's. They tell us that that they don't learn as well with online training. They claim the interaction with other contractors in a classroom setting allows them to learn better. The live classroom setting allows contractors to interact with their peers who face the same everyday business realities.

Hard to believe but a Mass contractor (Force Corp) found a way to be cited and fined by OSHA 5 times in one year! The latest citation includes fines of $91,000.00. One would think that once would be enough to change your ways but for some reason this contractor has not. Is it possible that making a profit is more important than protecting and training his workers?

Buried deep in the recently passed Congressional budget signed by President Obama, OSHA has been instructed to raise their fines for violations. OSHA penalties have been stagnant for 25 years. In 1990, The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 exempted OSHA from raising fines to account for inflation. In the new law there is an amendment that strikes the exemption.

Here we go again, OSHA announces the top 10 most cited violations (below) and wouldn't you know Fall Protection tops the list again!

In residential construction OSHA is citing and fining Builders, Remodelers, Developers, Roofers, Painters, Siding and Gutter Contractors and any trade who exposes their workers to falls from heights 6 feet or more above a lower level.

Buyer beware, not all insurance policies and estimates cover the cost of code updates when there is a property damage claim on an older home. Recently when I was helping out a contractor with an insurance estimate for his homeowner client, we learned that the repairs would trigger significant code updates that were not covered in what was called a PLATINUM POLICY!. The policy was written by Metropolitan Insurance.