Connecticut Contractor Cited Over Fatal Fall

OSHA has cited a Connecticut steel erection contractor for alleged violations: one willful and one serious: in connection with a fatal fall at a Stamford construction site. Employees were installing metal roofing onto a prefabricated steel building when one of the workers fell 35 feet to the ground and sustained fatal injuries.

OSHA investigators found that employees lacked proper fall protection and were not adequately trained to recognize and avoid fall hazards. The safety harnesses of three of the four employees working on the roof, including the victim, were not tied off to anchorage points to prevent falls, and the fourth employee’s safety lanyard was too long to protect him against a fall.

Inadequate and ineffective fall protection can be as dangerous and deadly as no fall protection at all, said investigators.

As a result of the investigation, OSHA has issued citations for one willful violation for the lack of fall protection and for one serious violation for the lack of training. 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 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.”

The contractor also faces a total of $51,700 in proposed fines.

Learn more about Slips, Trips, and Falls: The New ANSI Standards at CBIA’s Annual Health & Safety Conference, May 16 in Farmington. Details