Contractor Issued Citations for 4 Willful, 4 Serious Violations After OSHA Finds No Fall Protection, Other Violations on Eighth Inspection
Before these citations, two workers died from falls, one in 2019 and one more recently in 2022.
- By Alex Saurman
- Feb 07, 2023
A New York contractor with a history of violations is facing citations and proposed penalties after a recent inspection found employees with no fall protection.
In ALJ Home Improvement Inc.’s eighth inspection, which took place at a site in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, OSHA found employees on an 18-foot-high roof working without fall protection, according to a news release. OSHA cited the Nanuet, New York contractor for not having fall protection—which has been the subject of nine past identified violations—and head protection.
Since 2019, OSHA has found 33 violations for ALJ, per the news release. In the same time frame, two workers died from falls, one in 2019 and one more recently in 2022. Deaths from falls in the construction industry accounted for more than 34 percent of all construction deaths in 2020, according to OSHA.
The contractor now faces citations for four willful and four serious violations and a proposed penalty of $687,536.
"Since 2019, two employees of ALJ Home Improvement have suffered fatal falls and ALJ continues to callously ignore the law and blatantly jeopardize the safety of its workers," said OSHA Area Director Lisa Levy in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, in the news release.
"The company repeatedly refuses to comply with OSHA standards and make worker safety a priority, choosing instead to put profit over the lives of its employees. The reality is that a safe workplace is actually a more profitable workplace,” Levy continued.