OSHA Cites Fla. Company for Exposing Workers to Fall Hazards

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued “repeat” citations to Jemco Plastering for exposing employees to fall hazards at a construction site in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. The agency is proposing penalties totaling $52,000.

The inspection began when Jemco employees were observed applying stucco to a three-story parking garage on Santa Rosa Blvd. while reportedly standing on unsafe scaffolding platforms.

“Falls are a leading cause of worker injury and deaths in Florida, but they can be prevented if the required protections are in place.” said James Borders, OSHA’s Jacksonville area director. “That’s why it’s so important for employers to ensure these safeguards are used on every jobsite where there are fall hazards.”

OSHA issued three repeat citations against Jemco, with proposed penalties of $50,000, for failing to fully plank scaffold platforms, install guardrails, and provide a safe means for employees to climb to and exit the platforms.

The agency issues repeat citations when an employer has been cited previously for substantially similar conditions and those citations have become a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The company also received one serious citation, with a proposed penalty of $2,000, for failing to install cross braces on the scaffolding frame to prevent it from collapsing. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.

The DeFuniak Springs based-company has 15 working days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.