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U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA Proposes $48,000 In Penalties Against Anniston, Ala.-Based Residential Masonry ContractorInspection at Clay, Ala., worksite reveals four serious and six repeat violations
BIRMINGHAM -- The U.S. Department of Laborss Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $48,000 against Anniston, Ala.-based Mario Rivera-Delgado, doing business as Big M Masonry, after inspectors found 10 safety violations at a Clay, Ala., worksite.
"OSHA is serious about safety, and we expect employers to take safety seriously as well," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's area director in Birmingham. "This employer has been fined by OSHA in the past for similar problems but continues to place his employees in danger by not correcting known safety violations."
The agency issued six repeat violations with penalties totaling $36,000 for allowing employers to work on a scaffold system that lacked guardrails, was not fully planked, did not have toeboards installed and contained an area beneath it that was barricaded. Employees lacked safe access to the scaffold system, were not wearing protective headgear and had not been trained to recognize hazards associated with scaffolds.
OSHA inspectors issued four serious violations with penalties of $12,000 for allowing employees to use a scaffold with platforms extended beyond the supports, that was not secure and that was not erected under the supervision of a competent person. In addition, debris and loose bricks were found, creating a tripping hazard.
A repeat violation is defined as one for which an employer has been cited previously for a substantially similar condition when the citation has become a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to contest them and the proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's Birmingham Area Office at 950 22nd St., Room 1050; telephone 205-731-1534.
OSHA operates a vigorous enforcement program, conducting more than 38,000 inspections during fiscal year 2006 and exceeding its inspection goals in each of the last seven years. In fiscal year 2006, OSHA found nearly 84,000 violations of its standards and regulations.
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