NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday fined a Staten Island, N.Y., contractor more than $136,000 for hazards at a Jersey City, N.J., construction site.
Blade Contracting was given seven safety violations for fall hazards at the work site. One of them was a willful violation. Two were repeat violations and four were serious violations.
OSHA investigated working conditions after a worker with the masonry contractor fell from a sixth-floor balcony while attempting to access a suspension scaffold.
The four serious violations involved a failure to install cross bracing on the entire scaffold, ensure personal fall arrest systems were attached to a secure anchorage point and not scaffold guard rails, train workers to recognize and avoid hazards including falls, and ensure proper step ladder use.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Review Commission said OSHA.