Contractor Faces Over $330,000 in Fines for Repeat Safety Violations

Massachusetts contractor cited for willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at two worksites

50517172 2503268396367511 6531766717360635904 N

Repeat violator Twin Pines Construction Inc. of Everett, Mass., has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at worksites in Plymouth and Reading, Mass. The wood framing contractor faces a combined total of $336,200 in proposed fines following inspections by OSHA's Braintree and Andover area offices begun in March.

The Plymouth inspection was initiated March 15 after a worker suffered broken ribs and leg injuries when an unbraced wooden roof truss system collapsed around him at a worksite located at 1 Shinglewood. The Reading inspection was opened the same day after OSHA received a complaint about possible safety hazards at the 1 Jacobs Way jobsite.

At the Plymouth worksite, OSHA found that the trusses were not adequately braced during their installation, exposing employees to being struck by them. The workers were also exposed to falls of up to 12 feet during the installation of the trusses. Inspectors identified an impalement hazard from uncovered anchor bolts and additional fall and struck-by hazards from a misused ladder and uninspected and untagged rigging. These conditions resulted in OSHA issuing Twin Pines two willful, two repeat and four serious citations with $196,200 in proposed fines. The repeat violations stem from similar hazards cited by OSHA in 2009 and 2011 at jobsites in Walpole, Mass. and Portsmouth, N.H.

OSHA found employees at the Reading worksite working without fall protection while framing exterior walls, making final deck attachments, constructing leading edges and receiving construction building materials. This lack of fall protection exposed them to falls of from 10 to 20 feet. As a result, OSHA issued two willful citations, with $140,000 in fines, to Twin Pines.

Safety Video: Falls in Contruction - Leading Edge Work

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TwinPines896909_09062013.pdf and http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Twin_Pines_Construction_Inc_896591_09-05-13.pdf.

Twin Pines Construction Inc. has been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. OSHA's SVEP focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.

OSHA Announces Removal Criteria from Severe Violator Enforcement Program

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. 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.

Twin Pines Construction Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet informally with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Latest