OSHA finds flooring subcontractor workers exposed to dangerous falls at construction site; Dallas-area employer faces $87K in fines

Employer Name: Subfloor Systems Inc.
10509 Tube St.
Hurst, Texas

Citations Issued: Nov. 8, 2016

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration observed a Subfloor Systems’ foreman and other employees working without fall protection at the construction site of a commercial building.  After its Sept. 19, 2016, investigation, the agency cited the company with one willful violation for exposing workers to potential falls. In January 2016, OSHA cited the company with a willful violation after its investigation of an employee’s serious injury after falling 22 feet.

Proposed penalties: $87,297

Quote: “Subfloor Systems is repeatedly demonstrating a negligence to protect workers from fall hazards and OSHA will not tolerate this willful disregard of safety,” said Jack Rector, OSHA’s area director in Fort Worth. “The company must provide fall protection and take the necessary steps to ensure no other employees are injured.”

Link to citations: https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/SubfloorSystems_1176662.pdf

Information: Subfloor Systems has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations and penalties 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 Fort Worth Area Office at 817-581-7303.