Texas Contractor Ordered to Pay $250K After Worker Fatality at Dallas Site

A Texas construction contractor has been ordered to pay $250,000 in criminal and civil penalties an employee suffered a fatal fall at an apartment complex in Dallas, federal safety officials said.

U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered Design Plastering West LLC to pay a $150,000 criminal fine, $100,000 civil penalty, admit to eight willful health and safety violations, and to undergo monitoring by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for four years.

On May 14, 2015, a worker fell from a third-floor balcony while applying stucco without fall protection. OSHA cited the company for willfully failing to install scaffolding and provide workers with personal fall protection. In May 2018, Design Plastering West LLC pleaded guilty to the willful citation on fall protection.

The criminal prosecution and sentencing in this case was the result of a collaboration between OSHA, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Source: OSHA