Despite his request for a safety harness, a temporary employee working on a roof without fall protection later fell 12 feet through the roof. His fall resulted in his hospitalization with fractured arms and severe contusions.
An OSHA investigation also uncovered that the employer, Cotton Commercial USA Inc. in Katy, Texas, allegedly waited three days to report the injury. Federal law requires employers to report such incidents within 24 hours.
OSHA on July 22 fined Cotton Commercial $362,500 for seven alleged safety violations, including one willful and four willful egregious. The violations include failing to provide fall protection for four workers, failure to promptly report the hospitalization of an employee resulting from a workplace incident and not training employees in the use of fall protection and ladders.
“Falls kill workers, but they are preventable,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Cotton Commercial denied its workers the safety equipment they are required to provide, and the company intentionally waited several days to report the incident and misled OSHA’s inspectors.”
Gardia Construction, which provided the laborers to Cotton Commercial, received a citation for one alleged serious violation and a fine of $4,900 for failing to conduct frequent and regular inspections of the job site where its laborers worked.
Staffing agencies and host employers are jointly responsible for maintaining a safe work environment for temporary workers. This includes ensuring that OSHA’s training, hazard communications and record-keeping requirements are fulfilled. And for construction workers, this responsibility includes ensuring that frequent and regular inspections of worksites are conducted.
“Cotton Commercial was well aware of how to prevent safety hazard and, in fact, on the following day Cotton made sure all workers were provided with the required safety equipment. It shouldn’t have to take a serious injury for a company to comply with the law,” said OSHA Regional Administrator John Hermanson.
Cotton Commercial employs about 227 workers and operates throughout the United States. The company provides remediation services for commercial and residential structures damaged from disasters. Gardia Construction, located in Gretna, La., employs about 80 workers and provides labor to Cotton Commercial.
Both employers have 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Houston South area director or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.