Pennsylvania stucco contractor cited by OSHA for again exposing employees to scaffolding dangers at Bear, Delaware, work site

Employer name: BC Stucco and Stone, 36 Marian Court, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

BC Stucco and Stone was hired to provide labor for a store remodeling job. Schorn Construction Co. Inc. was the general contractor.

Inspection site: Route 40 and Salem Church Road, Bear, Delaware

Citations issued: On May 20, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to BC Stucco for one serious and three willful violations.

Inspection findings:  On Nov. 25, 2015, an OSHA compliance officer observed BC Stucco employees working approximately 18 feet above ground on a scaffold with major safety deficiencies, such as lack of fall protection, planking, safe access and proper use of guardrails, prompting an investigation.

The agency found willful violations when BC Stucco and Stone:

• Allowed workers on scaffolds approximately 18-feet high that were not fully planked or decked.
• Used a scaffold without a safe means of access and exit.
• Used a scaffold with unguarded edges and without guardrails, creating fall hazards up to approximately
  18 feet.
• Failed to provide scaffolding related safety training by a competent person to each employee working from scaffolding. 

The serious citation was due to the company not providing and requiring employees to wear head protection while conducting stucco operations on a fabricated frame scaffold. 

OSHA previously cited BC Stucco and Stone on May 2, 2016, for violations at a Philadelphia work site.

Quote: “BC Stucco and Stone continues to make production the priority over ensuring a safe workplace for its employees, which is intolerable. This contractor is well aware of OSHA standards for safe scaffolding, but consistently disregards them and allows its workers to use scaffolding in such poor condition that even a small human error could lead to dreadful outcomes,” said Erin Patterson, director of OSHA’s Wilmington Area Office.

Proposed penalties: $93,000

The citations can be viewed at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/BCStuccoandStone_1108487.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 Wilmington Area Office at 302-573-6518.

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.