When OSHA inspectors visited a residential construction site in Philadelphia, where DMAC Construction LLC was installing a stucco exterior, they noted that employees were working at heights of 25 feet without fall protection.
On Dec. 15, OSHA issued a citation for one willful safety violation to the Havertown, Pa., company. OSHA alleges that DMAC Construction LLC failed to provide employees with fall protection, resulting in the willful violation and a proposed penalty of $70,000.
In 2010, OSHA cited another company, McGee Plastering and Stucco, which had the same owner as DMAC Construction LLC – Darren McGee – for this same violation.
“Despite several previous citations and penalties for repeatedly jeopardizing worker safety, DMAC owner Darren McGee has yet to do the right thing,” said Nicholas DeJesse, director of OSHA’s Philadelphia Area Office. “He continues exposing employees to life-threatening hazards that can easily be addressed by implementing basic safety measures like fall protection.”
According to OSHA, McGee has a long history of exposing workers to safety hazards. His company, formerly McGee Plastering & Stucco Inc., experienced two incidents where employees received an electric shock when they came into contact with energized electrical lines. The incidents occurred in 2011 and 2013. Additionally, companies under his control have been cited for more than 40 scaffolding violations since 2008, and company appears to be in arrears to OSHA for more than $250,000 in penalties accrued in the past few years.
Both DMAC Construction LLC and McGee Plastering & Stucco have been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
“With falls the leading cause of death in the construction industry, employers must make worker safety the top priority to prevent avoidable tragedies,” DeJesse added.