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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued four “willful” citations to Igor Jerema Construction Company of Buffalo Grove, Ill., totaling $50,000 in proposed fines, in the fatality of a worker who fell off a scaffold while applying stucco at a jobsite in May.
OSHA’s Region 5 office in Chicago said the worker was applying stucco at a home under construction in Burr Ridge, Ill., when he fell off a scaffold and sustained a fatal head injury.
“Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry and failing to ensure workers use fall protection when required is unacceptable,” said Gary Anderson, director of OSHA’s Calumet City area Office. “OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so.”
Igor Jerema Construction has been cited for the following alleged “willful” violations:
• failing to provide fall protection for employees working from scaffolding at levels more than 10 feet high;
• erect scaffold supports on a firm foundation;
• provide a ladder as a point of access for workers on the scaffold; and
• fully plank platforms on working levels of the scaffold.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement or plain indifference to employee safety and health.
The company has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference or contest the findings. A search for information on the company produced no results.
More information and information about fall hazards and safeguards is available on OSHA’s website at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/construction.html. Detailed information on scaffold hazards and safe work practices, including an interactive e-Tool, is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/scaffolding/index.html.
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