Residential framing company exposes workers to dangerous falls at Watersound residential community in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

Employer name: South Progress LLC

Inspection site: 221 Wisteria Way, Lot 5, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459

Citations issued: Citations were issued to the employer on March 07.

Investigation findings: Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration observed employees doing framing work without fall protection at the Watersound residential community. This inspection was initiated under OSHA’s Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction.

OSHA issued the employer one willful safety citation for allowing employees to work from heights up to 23 feet without fall protection equipment.

Proposed penalties: $70,000

Background:  The agency has issued South Progress repeat citations for a lack of fall protection multiple times at different Florida work sites since December 2013.  

Quote: “South Progress has a history of violating OSHA’s fall standards and is fully aware of the dangers of working at elevated heights without proper protection,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville. “When your business model places production over safety, eventually it will result in an employee being severely injured or killed.”

The citations can be viewed at:

http://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/legacy-files/documents/newsroom/releases/OSHA20160470.pdf

South Progress is a construction company specializing in residential and commercial framing. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a 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 amputations, eye loss, 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 Jacksonville Area Office at 904-232-2895.