BUFFALO, N.Y. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited A.M. Stern Inc. for alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards while workers installed a roof on O’Connor Road in Fairport. The Rochester-based roofing contractor faces a total of $159,250 in proposed fines, chiefly for fall hazards identified during an inspection by OSHA’s Buffalo Area Office that began on July 10.
On two occasions during the investigation, OSHA inspectors observed Stern employees exposed to falls of 15 to 30 feet while working at the unprotected edges of the building’s roof. The designated safety monitor on-site was not positioned close enough to employees working in unprotected sections, so that he could warn them about the fall hazards. As a result, OSHA issued A.M. Stern one willful citation with a $70,000 fine for the lack of fall protection and one repeat citation, also with a $70,000 fine, for the improperly located safety monitor. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. A similar violation was issued in August 2008 at a Geneseo worksite.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=23523
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