OSHA has cited five Whitehall, Pa., contractors working on a Lowes home improvement center construction site for a variety of workplace safety and health violations, assessing a total of $142,600 in fines.

OSHA initiated an investigation on July 5, 2007, in response to an employee complaint. As a result of the investigation, T&T Masonry, which was engaged in both steel erection and masonry work with 32 employees at the job site, was cited for seven repeat violations and 18 serious violations. The company was fined $129,000 for improper use of scaffolds and inadequate fall protection.

DeLeon Enterprises, a roofing contractor with eight employees on site, was cited for six serious violations and fined $9,600 for inadequate training for employees and failure to provide ground fault protection in electrical circuits. NMB Construction, LLC, providing exterior finishing work with five employees on site, was cited for three serious violations and fined $1,125 for failure to provide ground-fault protection in electrical circuits and improper use of scaffolds. Professional Site Management Inc., a utility installation and site preparation contractor with 17 employees at the job site, was cited for one serious violation. The company was fined $2,500 for failure to provide adequate protection to employees in an excavation.

In addition, P.C. Unlimited Inc., a framing contractor with four employees at the site, was cited for one serious violation and fined $375 for failure to provide ground-fault protection on electrical circuits.

OSHA issues a repeat citation when an employer has been previously cited for a substantially similar violation, and that citation and its penalty have become final. A serious violation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious injury could occur from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.