OSHA Fines Tower Company in Worker's Fatal Fall
The employee fell about 125 feet in August while installing a microwave dish on a cellular tower in Louise, Miss.
OSHA announced that it has cited Custom Tower LLC of Scott, La., for one willful safety violation after an employee fell approximately 125 feet to his death while attempting to install a microwave dish on a cellular tower along Highway 149 in Louise in August 2013.
"This preventable tragedy underscores the legal responsibility of employers to follow OSHA standards and procedures to ensure workers use fall protection equipment correctly," said Clyde Payne, director of OSHA's Jackson Area Office. "Employers must ensure a safe and healthful workplace for their workers."
Custom Tower LLC designs, manufactures, installs, and repairs cell towers. The proposed penalties in this case total $50,400.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing, or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. For information on OSHA's fall protection standards -- fall protection was OSHA-s most-cited standard during FY 2013 -- in English and Spanish, visit http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls.