TWIA Commercial Property & Casualty
6 of the biggest OSHA fines of Q2 2024
Aug
A Guam contractor’s repeated lack of trench safety resulted in over $1 million in fines.
A New Jersey firm faces over $819,000 in fines for exposing its workers to fall hazards and silica.
Roofing contractors owe steep penalties after OSHA observed workers exposed to fall hazards.
OSHA publicizes instances such as these where it issues large fines, as a means of showing its regulatory power and calling attention to violations. In the second quarter of this year, the agency highlighted several employers facing hefty penalties across multiple jobsites and inspections.
In construction, these cases often involve residential builders committing repeat violations, which carry a larger initial penalty. The original fine amounts are sometimes negotiated down in settlement, so they do not always represent the amount paid.
Giant Construction Corp.
Fines: $1,038,918
Status: Contested
A contractor with a history of allegedly failing to protect workers in trenches faces over $1 million in penalties after OSHA says it has again found employees working in excavations greater than 5 feet deep without required safety equipment.
The Honolulu-area OSHA office allegedly discovered employees of Giant Construction Corp., based in Tamuning, Guam, installing sewer lines in multiple trenches at a jobsites in Tiyan, Guam. As a U.S. territory, Guam falls under OSHA’s purview.
As a result, in April, OSHA cited Giant Construction with nine willful violations and two serious violations. Each of the willful violations carries an initial penalty of $112,926.
Since 2014, OSHA inspections of Giant Construction jobsites have resulted in nine violations, including two serious violations and one repeat violation in October 2022.
The company is contesting the fines. Giant Construction Corp. could not be reached for comment.
Road Contractor Corp.
Fines: $819,417
Status: Issued
A Long Branch, New Jersey-based roofing contractor faces $819,417 in initial fines due to eight different work site inspections from November 2023 to March 2024.
In May, OSHA issued Road Contractor Corp. 32 safety violations from those eight jobsite visits throughout the state. Initial citation amounts ranged from $21,293 to $183,261. In total, the roofing and framing contractor faces nine willful, 14 serious and nine repeat violations.
In each inspection, OSHA alleges it found the company failed to provide workers with fall safety protection in addition to protection from other hazards, such as exposure to silica hazards without the proper training, lack of face and eye protection and allowing workers to use portable ladders unsafely.
But that was also just the citations in New Jersey highlighted by OSHA. In that same time period, the agency levied $112,044 across three inspections in Pennsylvania, where Road Contractor Corp. is also licensed to work. Those stemmed from one willful and four serious citations at three different jobsites, two in Lykens, Pennsylvania, and one in Wyomissing.
According to OSHA, the company has a pattern of exposing workers to hazards.
“Since July 2023, we have found in 24 inspections that Road Contractor Corp. exposed its employees routinely to dangerous falls and other safety hazards common in residential construction,” said Paula Dixon-Roderick, OSHA area director in Marlton, New Jersey.
The company does not have any publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
H R Vasquez Construction LLC
Fines: $267,332
Status: Informal settlement ($44,623)
A Missouri roofing contractor faces $267,332 in April after five OSHA inspections from fall 2023 resulted in numerous citations issued in Q2.
Federal workplace inspectors allegedly found H R Vasquez Construction had failed to protect its workers from falls at five different residential worksites in Wentzville, Missouri, in October and November.
OSHA alleged the company did not provide workers with protection as they worked at heights greater than 6 feet, and failed to ensure that workers using nail guns wore PPE. H R Vasquez Construction also permitted the improper use of ladders and had not developed a written hazard communication program nor did it begin or maintain an accident prevention program, OSHA alleged.
As a result, OSHA cited the company for 13 total violations: nine repeat, three serious and one other than serious. Since the initial citations, OSHA’s establishment search shows each fine had been negotiated via informal settlements that add up to $44,623.
H R Vasquez Construction does not have publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
Maestro Construction Inc.
Fines: $264,407
Status: Issued
In June, OSHA issued Bolingbrook, Illinois-based Maestro Construction Inc. two willful, two repeat, two serious and one other-than serious violations from inspections on jobsites in December and February.
As a result, the framing contractor faces $264,407 in total initial fines.
OSHA alleges Maestro Construction exposed workers to deadly falls at two homes under construction in Hanover Park, Illinois. Employees worked at heights of up to 20 feet without adequate fall protection, inspectors said, and the agency claims it discovered the company failed to certify employees on training hazards and required personal protective equipment.
Maestro Construction has been cited seven times since 2020, according to OSHA. The company did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment.
13 Construction & Pro Services LLC
Fines: $258,063
Status: Contested
In April, federal OSHA inspectors cited a Missouri roofing contractor for 21 violations for allegedly exposing workers to the dangers of fall hazards. OSHA claims to have viewed workers employed by 13 Construction & Pro Services LLC working exposed at heights five times in seven weeks at Wentzville, Missouri, residential worksites.
The agency says the company permitted employees to work without protection at heights greater than 6 feet, did not have a competent person inspect and evaluate jobsite hazards daily and failed to train employees to recognize hazards. 13 Construction & Pro Services also allegedly did not ensure the use of proper protective equipment or safe use of ladders.
The company faces 16 serious and five willful violations and $258,063 in initial citations across the inspections. The Lake St. Louis, Missouri-based roofer is contesting the fines. OSHA says the contractor has committed 11 serious and two repeat violations since its 2021 incorporation.
The company does not have any publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
Triple A Built LLC
Fines: $233,210
Status: Contested
On Oct. 18, 2023, federal workplace inspectors allegedly found a Kansas roofing contractor putting employees at risk of falls from elevation and failing to provide required protective equipment at two residential worksites.
As a result, Wellsville, Kansas-based Triple A Built faces two separate sets of $116,605 citations issued in April. OSHA inspectors cited Triple A Built for six instance-by-instance repeat violations for lack of fall protection and two repeat violations for not providing workers using nail guns with eye and face protection.
Tripe A Built received citations for similar violations in 2021, OSHA reported, and the agency’s database shows the company paid $7,373 of a $10,533 initial fine in an informal settlement. The contractor is contesting the more recent fines.
OSHA implemented instance-by-instance citations in the spring of 2023. As a result, the agency can issue multiple citations for specific violations where it would have only issued one in the past. As a result, initial fines can grow, as companies receive one citation for each worker exposed to a hazard and each day those workers were exposed.
Triple A Built does not have publicly available contact information and could not be reached for comment.
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