ALJ Fines Contractor $160K in Fall Hazard Case

The law finally caught up to this contractor–who used various identities to hide his involvement but couldn’t evade his culpability.

A federal administrative law judge has determined that New Hampshire general contractor Barry Billcliff, doing business as Merrimack Valley Roofing and under other alleged business names, willfully exposed his employees to fall safety hazards and held him personally liable for more than $160,000 in penalties and attorneys’ fees.

The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and citations for six violations by Billcliff at a Devens worksite. The contractor chose to contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The Sandown-based employer contended that he was not an employer under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, should not be held individually liable for the violations, was not a controlling employer under OSHA’s multi-employer policy and lacked sufficient connection to the work site to be considered an employer. Administrative Law Judge Dennis L. Phillips found Billcliff was not credible in his testimony.

View Administrative Law Judge Dennis L. Phillips’ decision. 

“When employers refuse to comply with the law, place workers’ lives at risk and then lie in an attempt to avoid being held responsible, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold them accountable, including by going to trial,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston. “If, like Billcliff, a cited employer continues such deceptive conduct in litigation, we will use all legal tools available to deter such conduct, including seeking sanctions such as attorneys’ fees and asking the judge to order a greater penalty than OSHA initially recommended.”

In the absence of Billcliff’s appeal, the review commission’s order will be final on Dec. 13, 2023.

“Falls from heights are one of the leading causes of work-related death in the U.S.,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton in Boston. “Employers who do not comply with fall protection requirements and place their employees at risk of deadly or disabling injuries will be cited and fined. Employers who continually do so will generally face substantially larger fines, as Billcliff has here.”

OSHA’s Andover Area Office conducted the inspection. The department’s Office of the Solicitor in Boston litigated and tried the case for OSHA. 

OSHA Cites Ohio Foundry in Worker’s Death

Yesterday brought news of yet another employee death due to their employer’s neglect of basic safety rules.

A federal workplace safety investigation into a Beford foundry explosion that caused the death of a maintenance supervisor and injuries to 15 other employees found the operator, I. Schumann & Co. LLC, failed to protect workers from the hazard of steam explosions.

Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned the explosion happened while employees inspected a water leak on a furnace used to smelt solid metals. OSHA determined water leaked onto the molten metal inside the furnace, causing a steam explosion. Inspectors found the company did not make sure that required lockout/tag out procedures were followed during the inspection of the furnace.

“This terrible tragedy could have been avoided if the employer followed well-known machine safety standards that are meant to prevent this type of explosion,” explained OSHA Area Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland, Ohio. “Sadly, a worker lost his life and 15 others were hurt in an incident that was entirely preventable. It’s exactly why employers need to follow required safety procedures and train their employees.”

OSHA cited the company for six serious violations and has proposed $62,500 in penalties. The foundry remains closed since the explosion.

Based in Bedford since 1917, I. Schumann & Co. today recycles material into metal alloys, ingots and pellets.

OSHA’s machine guarding and control of hazardous energy webpages provide information on what employers must do to limit worker exposures to machine hazards.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Corn Grain Operator Fined $531K in OSHA Case

Here’s a lesson hopefully for other silo operators.

A 34-year-old worker’s attempt to clean out a Roseland grain silo, in preparation for fall harvest, turned tragic on Sept. 12, 2022, when corn engulfed and asphyxiated him.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration at CHS Inc. – operating as Agri-Service Center Roseland – found the employer disregarded federal regulations designed to prevent such tragedies and found the worker’s personal protective equipment was not adequate for protection from engulfment hazards. The worker died on-site.

OSHA also determined the company failed to equip the employee with an adequate body harness and lifeline that co-workers could have used to rescue him. Inspectors discovered the company kept a retractable lifeline tripod on-site, a device not designed for side entry onto grain, and had no adequate alternative method available to protect workers in silos.

“The dangers of working inside grain bins are well-known and safety standards have been in place for decades. Despite our continued outreach and enforcement activity in this highly hazardous industry, we continue to see preventable fatalities,” said OSHA Area Director Matthew Thurlby in Omaha, Nebraska. “Agri-Service Center Roseland should know that safety standards and proper training, procedures, and equipment can make the difference between life and death. Expediency should never be put ahead of worker safety.”

OSHA issued citations for 16 violations – two willful and 14 serious – for allowing workers to enter bins with grain build-up, and for failing to develop procedures for entering permit-required confined spaces, ensure emergency services were available, recognize and evaluate hazards and train workers, and implement machine safety procedures to prevent grain bin equipment from running while workers were inside bins.

The agency proposed $531,268 in penalties and placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

Through its alliance program, OSHA has partnered with the Grain Handling Safety Coalition, Grain Elevator and Processing Society and National Grain and Feed Association to address hazards, reduce risks and improve safety and health management systems to help prevent life-altering injuries and fatalities.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

From March 27-31, 2023, the National Grain and Feed Alliance will participate in its annual Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week with a focus on making small changes for a big impact to improve safety in this high-hazard industry.

Over the Limit: Crane Company Fined $24K for Firing Worker Who Wouldn’t Violate Driving Laws

Hurray to this worker who stood up for safety!

A federal whistleblower investigation led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to order a Houston mobile crane rental company to pay a former employee nearly $24,000 in back wages, interest and damages after firing the worker in June 2020 for refusing to drive in excess of federal limits and reported fatigue.

OSHA determined Crane Masters Inc. violated the Surface Transportation Assistance Act when it retaliated against the employee on June 5, 2020, for refusing to exceed safe driving limits set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The employee worked 19 hours the day prior and could not get the required time off before returning to work– making it unsafe to operate a vehicle. The investigation led OSHA to order the company to pay the driver nearly $14,000 in back wages, interest and compensatory damages, and $10,000 in punitive damages. 

“Crane Masters Inc. punished a driver who refused to jeopardize their safety and that of others on the road by violating federal laws that restrict how many hours a truck driver may operate a commercial vehicle each day,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Eric Harbin in Dallas. “Commercial truck drivers, mechanics and other workers are critical to our nation’s transportation infrastructure and our economy, but they should never be forced to put themselves or others at risk because of an employer’s concern for profit, or fear retaliation for exercising their legal rights.”

Crane Masters provides hydraulic truck cranes and rigging services to several industries, including construction, oil and gas, freight transportation and chemical manufacturing. It has operated for 20 years and serves the greater Houston area.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 whistleblower statutes protecting employees from retaliation for reporting violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities, tax, antitrust, and anti-money laundering laws and for engaging in other related protected activities. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.

At Sea: Barge Co. Fired Whistleblower Following Worker Fatality, OSHA Says, Imposing $375K Fine

This safety case blew up in the employer’s face.

A Long Island-based petroleum barge company and three former and current management officials have paid $375,000 in restitution to the brother of one of two seamen killed in a barge explosion off the coast of Texas. The seaman alleged the company fired him for cooperating with investigators and reporting safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard. The explosion occurred on Oct. 20, 2017, off Port Aransas aboard the Buster Bouchard/B. No. 255.

In addition to the payment, Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. and the individual respondents agreed to take other remedial actions in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to resolve violations of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Seaman’s Protection Act.

Investigators for OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs found that the employers’ actions constituted retaliation against the seaman for protected activity under the SPA and would dissuade a seaman from reporting safety issues. Reporting alleged violations of maritime safety laws and regulations, cooperating with safety investigations and furnishing information to the Coast Guard about facts related to any marine casualty resulting in death are protected activities under the SPA.

“Employers and vessel owners must know and respect that, under the Seaman’s Protection Act, seamen have the right to report safety concerns and cooperate with the U.S. Coast Guard and other safety investigators,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson in New York. “Failure to recognize these rights can instill a culture of intimidation that could lead to disastrous or deadly consequences for workers.”

Under the agreement, the company must remove any reference to the seaman’s termination and exercising of his rights under the SPA from their files, and provide a neutral reference if contacted by any prospective employer. The employer must train its managers and employees about seamen’s SPA rights and post a Notice to Seamen about their rights under the SPA.

“This agreement underscores the U.S. Department of Labor’s commitment to pursuing necessary and effective legal remedies to protect and preserve a worker’s right to a safe and healthful work environment,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York. “Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc.’s disregard for worker safety is unacceptable.”

OSHA’s New York regional Office of Whistleblower Protection Programs conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Allison L. Bowles of the department’s New York regional Office of the Solicitor negotiated the settlement.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of SPA and 24 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, motor vehicle safety, healthcare reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, and securities laws. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.

Home Improvement Company, Owner Socked With $1.7M Fine for Ignoring Fall Protections

A fine, even a million dollar one, is too lenient for this company which willfully failed to train its workers on the hazards of falling, resulting in an employee’s death.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Shawn D. Purvis, owner of Purvis Home Improvement Co. Inc. for egregious willful, repeat, and serious workplace safety violations. Purvis – a Saco, Maine, roofing contractor – faces a total of $1,792,726 in penalties. The enforcement action follows the death of an employee in Portland, Maine, on December 13, 2018.

OSHA inspectors found that Purvis knowingly failed to ensure the use of fall protection by his employees at the Portland worksite, and at a separate worksite in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

Due to Purvis’ knowledge of the hazard and required safeguards, along with an extensive history of violations, OSHA cited him for 13 egregious willful violations – one for each exposed employee per job site – for failing to ensure the use of fall protection. Each egregious citation carries the maximum allowable penalty of $132,598. OSHA also cited Purvis for failing to provide fall protection training to his employees, and for exposing them to electrocution and eye hazards. OSHA has cited the owner for seven violations of fall protection requirements since September 2006.

“Effective fall protection can prevent tragedies like this when an employer ensures the proper use of legally required lifesaving protection,” said OSHA Area Director David McGuan, in Augusta, Maine. “An ongoing refusal to follow the law exposes other employees to potentially fatal or disabling injuries. Employers cannot evade their responsibility to ensure a safe and healthful worksite.”

View the Portland and Old Orchard Beach citations.

On April 5, 2019, a Portland grand jury indicted Purvis for manslaughter and workplace manslaughter, charging that his repeated violations of OSHA’s fall protection standards caused his employee’s death.

OSHA offers compliance assistance resources on fall hazards on the OSHA Fall Protection webpage at https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/.

Purvis has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance.  For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov.

Employers can find compliance assistance resources related to OSHA at https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/cas.html.

Company Given Max Penalty for Fall Hazards

This employer in Massachusetts let its fall safety hazards fester–and now will pay a steep monetary price exacted by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Northeast Framing Inc. – based in Lunenberg, Massachusetts – for exposing workers to falls and other hazards following an employee’s fatal fall at an East Boston, Massachusetts, worksite in May 2018. The company faces $311,330 in penalties, the maximum allowed by law.

OSHA inspectors determined that Northeast Framing Inc. failed to provide adequate fall protection for employees, despite repeated notifications from the project’s general contractor. The company also failed to train employees to recognize and avoid fall, ladder, electrical, and other hazards; provide adequate documentation regarding the safety of forklifts; perform regular jobsite safety inspections; notify OSHA of the employee’s work-related death; and provide injury and illness logs to OSHA in a timely manner.

“Falls are the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry. Employers must provide fall protection and adequately train workers to identify occupational hazards that can cause injury,” said OSHA Braintree Area Office Director James Mulligan.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

OSHA Dings Roofing Contractor $105K for Noncompliance With Fall Protection Rules

[Note: This blog post was picked up by the Ohio Employer Law Blog  Sept. 14 weekly blog roundup]

This Florida roofing company literally fell down on the job when it came to protecting its workers from fall hazards.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Coastal Roofing Inc. for exposing employees to fall and other hazards at a St. Johns, Florida, worksite. The Jacksonville-based roofing company faces $105,283 in proposed penalties.

OSHA investigated the company as part of the Agency’s Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction. Coastal Roofing was cited for failing to ensure employees utilized a fall protection system. OSHA also cited the contractor for failing to ensure employees utilized eye protection and not extending a portable ladder 3 feet above the roof landing. OSHA cited the company for similar safety violations in January 2018.

“The use of fall protection is not an option – it is a legal requirement that saves lives,” said OSHA Jacksonville Acting Area Office Director Michelle Gonzalez. “This company’s continued failure to comply with fall protection standards puts the lives of its employees at risk for serious or fatal injury.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance. For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov/.

Six-Figure Fine Against Ct. Company That Exposed Workers to Excessive Mercury

Federal workplace safety regulators finally got wind of high exposure levels of mercury at a New Hampshire workplace.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Manafort Brothers, Inc. for exposing workers to mercury and respirator hazards while they dismantled a mercury boiler at a Portsmouth worksite. The Plainville, Connecticut, construction contractor faces penalties of $329,548.

OSHA’s inspection – in response to workers’ complaints – found that employees were being exposed to high levels of mercury during the demolition and Manafort Brothers Inc. was not taking steps to reduce those exposures to below permissible levels. In addition, the company did not evaluate the respirator program’s effectiveness in protecting workers against exposures and did not consult with the employees to identify and correct any respirator problems.

“These hazards were certainly preventable,” said OSHA’s New Hampshire Area Director Rosemarie O. Cole. “High mercury exposure can result in permanent nervous system and kidney damage. It is critically important that employers remain vigilant and ensure that effective safeguards are in place to prevent and minimize workers’ exposures.”

In total, OSHA cited the company for two willful and six serious violations concerning mercury, respirators, protective clothing, and sanitary conditions.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.