![\"OSHA](\"https:\/\/www.empowerbpo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Construction-Worker-Falls-in-Sewer-Raymore.jpg\")
Luck was with a worker on Sept. 28, 2011, when he fell 80 feet to a lower level from the top of a 118-foot-high scaffold and survived. The same can\u2019t be said of masonry contractor Navillus Contracting Tile Inc., which was cited by OSHA for alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards at the Brooklyn, N.Y. worksite.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis employee is fortunate to have escaped death, but what is unfortunate is that this fall occurred in the first place,\u201d said Kay Gee, OSHA’s area director for Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. \u201cIt is effective scaffold maintenance, work practices and fall protection \u2013 not luck \u2013 that are essential to protecting workers against life-threatening falls.\u201d<\/p>\n
An inspection by OSHA\u2019s Manhattan Area Office found that the scaffold platform was not fully planked and lacked guardrails, an aluminum access platform was not secured against displacement, another worker was not tied off to a safe anchorage point and employees accessed work areas by climbing up and down the scaffold frames. These conditions resulted in citations for six serious violations, with $36,000 in proposed fines. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.<\/p>\n
One repeat violation with a proposed fine of $38,500 involves a lack of guardrails. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously was 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 5 years. OSHA cited Navillus in September 2008 for a similar hazard at a Bronx worksite.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo prevent hazards such as these, employers should implement effective illness and injury prevention programs in which they work continuously with their employees to identify and eliminate hazards,\u201d said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York\u00a0OSHA Training<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n