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U.S. Labor Department's OSHA Cites Four Contractors Following Fatal Construction Accident In Miami

Department proposes $59,000 in penalties for 16 serious violations

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $59,000 against four contractors – Starsouth Stucco Systems, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Safety Guys Inc. and M.C. Velar Construction – for multiple safety violations at a construction site in Miami, Fla.

The safety violations led to a fatality that occurred on Nov. 1, 2006, when a plasterer working on one of the building's balconies fell 210 feet.

"Falls are a major cause of preventable workplace deaths in the U.S., and the department will not tolerate employers who ignore safety standards," said Darlene Fossum, OSHA's area director in Fort Lauderdale. "These companies placed the lives of employees at risk by not providing proper fall protection equipment and training."

OSHA issued 16 serious citations against the companies for allowing employees to work on unprotected balconies, allowing employees to use defective and inadequate safety equipment, not inspecting defective safety devices and not removing defective devices, having an inadequate safety program, and not providing employees with adequate safety training.

The employee who died worked for Starsouth Stucco Systems. Safety Guys Inc. supplied the fall protection systems used at the site. M.C. Velar Construction provided concrete forming used at the site. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. was the general contractor responsible for all site activities.

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