Judge Affirms Penalties, Citations Issued to Contractor Following Worker’s Death
The telecommunications contractor received the citations and penalties in June 2020.
- By Alex Saurman
- Jan 10, 2023
Penalties of $24,290 and citations OSHA proposed for a telecommunications contractor have been affirmed by a judge, OSHA recently reported.
In June 2020, Eustis Cable Enterprises Ltd. received citations following an investigation after a foreman’s death, according to a news release.
Six months earlier in Andover, New York, when a lashing machine failed to work properly during work between utility poles, a foreman attempted to move toward the machine to fix it. The foreman “us[ed] his climbing belt as a seat as he advanced hand over hand down the line,” the news release said. But after “he lost his grip on the wire,” the foreman died when “the climbing belt slid up his back and cinched at the neck,” suffocating him.
The citations, issued for a lack of training and PPE, were contested in July 2020, but a judge announced the decision to affirm the citations—which had been amended during the process—in October 2022. Final orders came less than two months later.
"It is vital that employers properly train employees and provide them with effective personal protective equipment so they can perform their work safely and return home at the end of each workday. Failure to do so can have life-threatening consequences for workers," said OSHA Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson in New York in the news release.
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.