OSHA Judge Rules Massachusetts Companies Operated as Single Employer Where Workers Fell
An administrative law judge with the OSHA Review Commission ruled two companies were operating as a single employer at a Whenham, Massachusetts, worksite
OSHA has announced that an administrative law judge with the agency’s review commission has ruled that A.C. Castle Construction Co. Inc. and Daryl Provencher, aka Provencher Home Improvements, were operating as a single employer at a worksite in Wenham, Massachusetts, when three employees were injured in October 2014.
According to the report, the employees were performing roofing work in a ladder jack scaffold when the plank they were standing on snapped, causing them to fall 20 feet to the ground. An investigation determined the wooden plank was not graded for scaffold use. Other hazards included deficiencies in scaffold components and lack of fall protection for the employees.
OSHA initially cited the companies as a single employer due to operations such as common worksites and common management and supervision.
"The judge's decision, now a final order of the commission, upholds OSHA's findings that A.C. Castle exercised a degree of control and oversight over Provencher's operations sufficient to render the two a single employer under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, making them responsible as one entity for their employees' safety," said Michael Felsen, regional solicitor of labor for New England.