When a work injury or a workplace fatality happens, a New York City construction accident attorney can help victims of the injury and their families to pursue a claim for benefits. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can also conduct an investigation into the cause of the workplace accident or injury in order to determine if any safety rules were violated. OSHA not only conducts inspections and investigations after an injury, but also does routine investigation and responds to safety complaints.
When OSHA identifies a problem on a worksite, the agency can levy fines against those responsible for violations of safety regulations. Construction Dive reports that OSHA recently took action, fining two New York contractors for violations of important safety rules.
Two New York Companies Fined for Safety Violations
Both of the incidents that resulted in fines involved contractors from Queens, New York who were in the process of undertaking a construction project in Manhattan. A total of $117,170 in fines were assessed as a result of violations of safety regulations on falls, as well as violations of safety regulations related to electrical and fire hazards.
One of the contractors, a construction company, was fined $93,170 for eight repeat violations and six serious violations. The other, a steel erection contractor, was fined $24,000 for 10 serious violations. The construction company has been cited for similar hazards multiple times during the past four years.
The OSHA area director pointed out that the fines were levied in connection with safety standards designed to prevent both falls and electrocution. Falls and electrocution are two of the so-called Fatal Four causes of construction accident deaths. OSHA also indicates that violations of fall protection standards are one of the most common reasons why construction companies are fined. Falls accounted for almost half of all the construction accident deaths that happened over the course of 2014, so violations of fall-related safety regulations need to be taken especially seriously.
The fines against these particular contractors occurred just one week after a report revealed that the New York City Department of Buildings has increased the number of stop-work orders that have been issued as a result of a rise in safety incidents on construction sites in New York City. New York is involved in a building boom, which has been causing a rise in deaths and making it harder for safety regulators to ensure that they are able to inspect all construction sites for safety concerns.
Employees need to understand that OSHA fines, or even safety violations, are not a prerequisite for a workers’ comp claim. In fact, even if an employer did everything right and all safety rules were followed, injured workers can still pursue a workers’ comp claim for coverage for on-the-job injuries. Any work-related injury should be covered by workers’ comp and an employee’s medical bills and disability benefits should be paid. Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff can provide help to workers in getting the benefits they deserve.