OSHA Fines Contractor in Worker’s Fatal Fall

07.10.2024
HR & Safety

A construction contractor is facing more than $80,000 in fines after a worker fell to their death at a job site in New York. 

OSHA investigators say Tennessee-based A.W. Stiles Contractors Inc. could have prevented the worker’s death by providing fall protection and training for employees. 

The worker died in December 2023 after falling 23 feet while replacing an aluminum standing seam roof on a building. 

Investigators determined that the company failed to provide the four employees at the job site with effective fall protection.

In addition, they said that the limited protection systems that were in place were not installed or used correctly.

Serious Violations

OSHA said the company neglected to ensure employees were trained on fall hazards, the use of personal fall arrest systems, and the correct procedures for utilizing fall protection systems on site. 

Inspectors also found that A.W. Stiles violated OSHA requirements by installing fall protection systems without supervision of a qualified person, and did not evaluate respiratory hazards for employees. 

In all, the company was cited for eight serious violations, totalling $83,885 in proposed fines. 

“This tragedy could have been prevented.”

OSHA’s Jeffrey Prebish

“Falls are the leading cause of construction industry deaths and yet this company chose to ignore federal standards and exposed four employees—including the deceased—to this deadly hazard,” said OSHA Area Director Jeffrey Prebish.

“This tragedy could have been prevented had A.W. Stiles Contractors Inc. followed and maintained basic, commonsense and legally required safeguards.”

OSHA gave the company 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings.

Workplace Falls

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 395 people died in workplace falls from elevation in 2022. 

That’s a nearly 53% increase since 2011, according to a report from CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training.

They pointed to the following five reasons for the increase:

  • Companies not making time for safety
  • Workers not wearing their personal protective equipment
  • Companies and workers not focusing on leading edge
  • Failure to sufficiently or effectively plan the day’s activities
  • Failure to not engineer out hazards during the planning phase of the job

In 2023 OSHA issued a National Emphasis Program to address and prevent workplace falls.

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