Miami-based contractor cited for exposing workers to serious safety hazards at a worksite in Hallandale Beach, Fla., by US Department of Labor's OSHA

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Waterfront Construction Inc. with 12 serious safety violations for exposing workers to falls, burns, and other hazards found, while workers installed seawalls, at 256 Three Islands Blvd in Hallandale Beach. The agency initiated the February 2014 inspection in response to a complaint and proposed a $44,100 penalty.

"This company's failure to provide fall protection and personal protective equipment jeopardized its workers safety and exposed them to avoidable fall and struck-by hazards. Waterfront Construction must take immediate corrective steps to ensure a safe workplace," said Condell Eastmond, director of OSHA's Fort Lauderdale Area Office.

The serious violations include the employer exposing workers to:

• Fall hazards by having them walk across a wooden board, without fall protection, to access a work area
• Drowning hazards from not providing life jackets or personal flotation devices to employees working on a barge and seawalls
• Fire and explosion hazards from improperly storing oxygen and acetylene tanks.
• Struck-by hazards from flying debris and from working in close proximity to a crane while not wearing protective helmets

The company also failed to develop and utilize a safety and health program. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

OSHA has created a fall prevention Web page at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls with detailed information in English and Spanish on fall protection standards. The page offers fact sheets, posters and videos that vividly illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures. OSHA has also created a regional emphasis program on falls in construction.

Waterfront Construction Inc. is a construction contractor that employed three workers at this jobsite and four workers nationwide.

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.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Fort Lauderdale Area Office at 954-424-0242.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, fatal work injuries in Florida accounted for 218 of the 4,383 fatal work injuries reported in 2012. Additional details are available at http://bls.gov/iif/home.htm.

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 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 http://www.osha.gov.