OSHA finds workers repeatedly exposed to fall hazards at residential construction site in Robbinsville, New Jersey

KEARNY, N.J. — While applying brick to the exterior of a new residential construction site located at 33 Emerald Road in Robbinsville, workers employed by Y.V. General Construction Corp. based in Kearny were exposed to scaffold and fall hazards. After the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's April 2014 inspection at the site, initiated under its Local Emphasis Program for falls, the company was cited for seven repeat and two serious safety violations. Proposed penalties total $49,280.

"Y.V. General Construction continues to place its workers in harm's way by failing to use well-constructed scaffolds," said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA's Marlton Area Office. "Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry and should never be taken lightly."

The repeat violations, previously cited in 2011, include fall hazards related to the use of scaffolds. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2012, the latest year for which data is available, more than 2,000 workers nationwide suffered injuries because of scaffold hazards. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Inspectors also cited the company for two serious violations for additional scaffold and fall hazards, some in excess of 13 feet. 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 Stop Falls Web page 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.

For more information on scaffolding safeguards, visit http://go.usa.gov/KMH3.

Y.V. General Construction has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet informally with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety & 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 Marlton Area Office at 856-596-5200.

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.