Berlin Builders, a Cinnaminson, NJ, residential construction contractor with projects in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, continues to expose its workers to dangerous falls on jobsites by ignoring safety standards required by law, federal regulators say.
After conducting separate inspections at worksites in Middletown, DE, and in Pennsylvania in Limerick and Perkasie, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the company for two willful, nine repeat, and eight serious and one other-than-serious violations. Berlin Builders faces a total of $385,836 in federal penalties for violations at these worksites.
- Parkway at South Ridge, 318 Gaither Drive, Middletown, DE = $105,600
- Parkway at South Ridge, 453 Gaither Drive, Middletown, DE = $46,200
- American House Building, 7th & Market St., Perkasie, PA = $112,860
- Springford Estates, Limerick, PA = $121,176
Workers were exposed to serious fall hazards on projects developed by Ryland Homes, LC Construction, Ryan Homes and Re-Alliance Real Estate Development. Berlin Builders was contracted to perform work on each of the listed sites. OSHA cited Berlin for fall hazards on scaffold platforms and a lack of training for those hazards, failure to provide and use fall protection, and failure to inspect the jobsite for fall and fire-related hazards.
Citations were also issued for the following violations:
- Failure to provide and use proper ladders to access a work area.
- Failure to provide fire extinguishers.
- Failure to provide covers over holes located 6 feet above the lower floor.
- Failure to develop and implement a hazard communication program.
In the past 12 months, Berlin Builders has been inspected 23 times at worksites across Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. OSHA issued citations in 16 of the inspections, resulting in penalties totaling $403,690. The citations involved similar fall hazards.
"Berlin Builders is a serial violator that callously refuses to take even the most basic steps to protect workers from falls and other serious hazards in construction, an industry among the nation's most hazardous," said Richard Mendelson, OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia.
To view the citations, visit:
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/BerlinBuildersInc_1125483_1093222_03172016.pdf
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/BerlinBuildersInc_1110353.pdf
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/BerlinBuildersInc_1103068.pdf
The company 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 Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
