OSHA Proposes $648K in Fines for 6 Employers at New York Excavation Site
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited six New York and New Jersey employers for serious safety violations involving excavation hazards at the construction site of a large mixed-use commercial building.
OSHA has proposed a combined $648,094 in penalties for the alleged violations.
OSHA said it responded to an allegation of struck-by and collapse hazards associated with a large excavation at the Monroe Commons project, also known as Magna Square development, in Monroe, New York, which is a planned four-story, approximately 408,000 square-foot mixed-use commercial building and a 39-room hotel located on an 18-acre site. OSHA said the excavation had a “steep, unstable embankment nearly 75 feet high which was not adequately sloped or shored.”
OSHA issued a total of 23 serious and five willful citations to the project’s general contractor and five subcontractors for failing to protect employees from cave-in, struck-by, and chemical hazards; neglecting to shield employees from falling or rolling rock and soil from an excavation face; and not ensuring daily inspections of excavations were conducted by a competent person.
Advanced Plan and Build LLC, and subcontractors Parkstone Inc. and Obstacle Systems Inc. – operating as Drip Drop Waterproofing Inc. – and The Paving Masters LLC received citations for willfully exposing employees to cave-in and struck-by hazards from an unprotected excavation. OSHA also cited Advanced Plan and Build and The Paving Masters for their not ensuring that the excavation, which was between 21 and 75 feet deep, was designed by a registered professional engineer.
Subcontractors Century Max Industries Corp., DelValle Contractor, and Prime Structure Inc. were also cited for failing to protect employees from cave-in and struck-by hazards. DelValle and Parkstone Inc. and Obstacle Systems Inc. also received citations for serious violations related to lack of fall protection and chemical hazards.
OSHA proposed the following penalties: Advanced Plan and Build LLC—$175,444; Century Max Industries Corp.—$46,340; DelValle Contractor—$19,151; Parkstone Inc. and Obstacle Systems Inc.—$198,615; Prime Structure Inc.—$19,860; and The Paving Masters LLC—$188,684.
The employers have 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before OSHA’s review commission.