Two workers were killed after falling approximately 90 feet while working on the construction of the I-85 interchange Outer Loop overpass. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited R.R. Dawson Bridge Co. LLC with four safety violations following its January 2014 investigation of the fatalities.
OSHA issued a willful violation for failing to provide employees working near the bridge's edge with required fall protection. 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.
Three serious violations were issued for exposing workers to fall hazards and for failing to inspect employee fall arrest systems before use. 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.
Proposed penalties total $54,500. R.R. Dawson Bridge Co., in Bessemer, has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission.
