Contractor Fined $113,200 for Employee's Fall
OSHA's Hartford, Conn. Area Office investigated after the worker suffered serious injuries in a 24-foot fall Nov. 17, 2008, at a residential construction project.
J.P. Carroll Construction Inc., a roofing contractor, of West Hartford, Conn., has been cited by OSHA's Hartford, Conn. Area Office for three allegedly willful violations and fined $113,200 in connection with a 2008 fall. The office investigated after a worker suffered serious injuries in a 24-foot fall Nov. 17, 2008, at a residential construction project. The aluminum ladder used to access the roof that day did not extend at least 3 feet above the roof's edge as required, and it posed an electrocution hazard because the ladder was just 14 inches from an energized power line, according to OSHA.
OSHA announced the results Thursday and said J.P. Carroll Construction Inc. had been cited in 2004 and 2007 for fall-related hazards in West Hartford and Hartford, Conn.
"This case is a graphic example of what can happen when basic, common-sense, and legally required safeguards are ignored," said C. William Freeman III, OSHA's area director in Hartford. "Equally troubling was the placement of the aluminum ladder next to a live power line. This setup left workers just inches away from death or disabling injuries."
The company has 15 business days to contest the citations or seek an informal conference with OSHA.