New Jersey Contractor Facing Nearly $50,000 in Fines for Scaffold and Fall Hazards

OSHA cited Y.V. General Construction for seven repeat and two serious safety violations for scaffold and fall hazards on a new residential construction site in N.J.

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While applying brick to the exterior of a new residential construction site located at 33 Emerald Road in Robbinsville, N.J., workers employed by Y.V. General Construction Corp. based in Kearny, N.J., were exposed to scaffold and fall hazards. After the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) April 2014 inspection at the site, initiated under its Local Emphasis Program for falls, the company was cited for seven repeat and two serious safety violations. Proposed penalties total $49,280.

The repeat violations, previously cited in 2011, include fall hazards related to the use of scaffolds. 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.

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Inspectors also cited the company for two serious violations for additional scaffold and fall hazards, some in excess of 13 feet. 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.

Y.V. General Construction 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 & Health Review Commission.

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