IL Site Supervisor Tells Workers to Keep Working After OSHA Notification on Fall Hazard, Agency Says
The site supervisor's employer was cited for citations on fall protection and other violations.
- By Alex Saurman
- Oct 24, 2022
Following a notification from OSHA about a fall hazard, a site supervisor allegedly told workers to keep working. Now, the framing contractor faces five violations and proposed penalties of over $77,000.
According to a news release, an inspector for OSHA notified a worksite in Illinois about workers not using fall protection. In a response the agency called “especially blatant” in the news release, the site supervisor said “the show must go on,” and told workers to continue working. The workers, who were “setting joists” on a residential building, were as high as 48 feet. The news got to the general contractor, who then had the workers get off the roof, OSHA said.
The site supervisor’s employer, KW Framing Inc, was cited for one willful and four serious violations for not having fall protection or guardrails, using ladders incorrectly and “exposing workers to unprotected rebar,” OSHA said. It now faces $77,072 in proposed penalties.
"KW Framing ignored an OSHA compliance officer's identification of hazards that could result in death, and company officials told the workers to continue while at risk of severe and possibly fatal fall injuries," said OSHA's Chicago North Area Director Angeline Loftus in Arlington Heights in the news release. "Allowing employees to work at dangerous heights without providing fall protection equipment is inexcusable. OSHA will continue to hold employers accountable when they fail to provide safe working conditions."
In 2020, 351 workers lost their lives in the construction industry after falling to a lower level, OSHA reported. This number is nearly one-third of the total deaths in the industry that year.
About the Author
Alex Saurman is a former Content Editor for Occupational Health & Safety,who has since joined OH&S’s client services team. She continues to work closely with OH&S’s editorial team and contributes to the magazine.