OSHA Cites Ala. Contractor for Exposing Workers to Safety Hazards

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Rivera Framing and Lifescape Builders for reportedly exposing workers to fall hazards from unsafe scaffolding at a Vestavia Hills, Ala., job site. The agency is proposing penalties totaling $142,600.

“In the Southeast, lack of fall protection is a leading cause of injuries and deaths, particularly among Hispanic construction workers,” said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA’s Birmingham area director. “We are committed to reducing these tragic accidents.”

OSHA issued seven repeat citations, with proposed penalties of $108,400, against Rivera Framing for failure to: train employees to recognize and avoid fall hazards; provide employees with fall protection when they work on 10-foot-high scaffolds, and provide workers eye protection when they use nail guns. Improper use of ladders was also cited as repeat.

Six additional serious citations, with proposed penalties of $22,800, were issued against the company for exposing employees to falls from improperly erected, defective scaffolds and damaged ladders.

General contractor, Lifescape Builders, received six serious citations, with proposed penalties of $11,400, for lack of a safety program; failing to provide workers with fall protection, and allowing debris to accumulate at the site.

Calera-based Rivera Framing and Vestavia Hills-based Lifescape Builders have 15 days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.