Being cited seven times in the past five years for safety violations apparently has not made an impression on Jose A. Serrato. The independent roofing contractor based in Marietta, Georgia has again been cited by OSHA for exposing his workers to fall hazards – this time at a worksite in Birmingham. Current proposed penalties total $133,604.
Employees at a Pennsylvania carpentry framing company performed their work without fall or head protection, according to OSHA, which has cited Strong Construction, Inc. for two willful and five serious safety and health violations. The Bensalem company, which specializes in commercial and industrial construction, faces $213,318 in fines.
A 67-year-old California man fell off a 500-foot cliff while trying to rescue his dog, authorities said.
The Golden Gate National Park ranger said the man’s dog got away from him, and when he tried to go after it he slipped to his death.
Long after the fatal fall, the man’s dog continued pacing and barking on a perch, as if sensing something was wrong.
A cause of death amongst construction workers is falls from elevation, of which a third are from ladders. Some of these fatalities could be prevented simply with the implementation of the three-point control technique.
In addition to proper use of horizontal grab bars and the existing horizontal rungs, construction workers should be trained to use the three-point control technique.
Falls are one of the most common causes of death for ironworkers. But they also risk injuries from steel beam or reinforced concrete wall collapses, "struck-by" injuries from falling or swinging objects, and contact with live electrical lines.
That’s a good bit of risk for an average $45,000 salary.
Analysis of data from three surveillance systems showed that in 2011, work-related ladder fall injuries (LFIs) resulted in 113 fatalities, an estimated 15,460 nonfatal injuries that involved more than one day away from work, and an estimated 34,000 nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments. Workers who are male, Hispanic, older, self-employed, work in smaller establishments, and work doing construction and extraction or installation, maintenance, and repair experience higher LFI rates.
Koch Foods of Gainesville, LLC., was cited for exposing employees to amputation hazards; and failing to provide fall protection, identify which employees were using hazardous energy control locks, and train employees exposed to noise hazards. Proposed penalties total $208,977.
A Georgia poultry processor exposed its employees to amputation, fall and noise hazards, according to OSHA, which has cited Gainesville-based Koch Foods for multiple safety and health violations at its poultry processing plant. The company faces proposed penalties of $208,977.
Serious injuries to two employees brought OSHA inspectors to a vinyl floor manufacturing facility in Fostoria, Ohio, where they found multiple safety violations. Nox US LLC, an Ohio manufacturer of luxury vinyl tile, now faces $514,236 in proposed penalties and has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Both injuries occurred in June 2017.
The motion picture company behind the TV show, “The Walking Dead” has been cited and fined for a fatal fall that occurred on the Senoia, Georgia set last year.
Stuntman John Bernecker died on July 12 of blunt force trauma to the head after plunging headfirst from a balcony to a concrete floor 22 feet below.
