Elizabeth contractor again exposes workers to dangerous risk of falls, OSHA finds at downtown Jersey City build site

Employer name: Cajamarca Construction Corp., 36 Prospect Street, Apt. 2F, Elizabeth, New Jersey

Inspection site: Residential construction project at 259 Halladay St., Jersey City, New Jersey

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one willful, two repeat, and one serious citations on April 28, 2016.

Inspection findings: An OSHA compliance officer opened an inspection after driving by the site and seeing employees of the siding and roofing company exposed to 28-foot falls without fall protection as they did roof work.

The willful violation was cited because the employer failed to use the fall protection equipment that was on site and available for use.

Lack of head protection, and improper use of portable ladders to access upper landings in which the ladders did not extend beyond the landings by the required 3 feet, resulted in the repeat citations.

The serious violation was due to the employer’s failure to provide workers with eye protection while they used powered nail guns.

OSHA has cited Cajamarca Construction Corp. eight times since 2009.  The company was previously cited for fall and scaffolding hazards and has been fined $60,020 in penalties.

OSHA has designated May 2-6, 2016, as the third annual National Safety Stand-Down. The event is a nationwide effort to remind and educate employers and workers in the construction industry of the serious dangers of falls – the cause of the highest number of industry deaths in the construction industry.

Quote: “Given Cajamarca’s OSHA history in New Jersey and New York City, it is only a matter of time before one of its workers falls to their death,” said Kris Hoffman, OSHA’s area director in Parsippany. “This company’s callous disregard for worker safety, in an industry where falls are the leading cause of death, is intolerable.”

Proposed penalties: $51,040

The citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/CajamarcaConstructionCorp_1141075.pdf

The employer 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 Parsippany Area Office at 973-263-1003.

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.