Jersey City company Clara Construction has been fined more than $46,000 by U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for alleged safety violations at a local work site, the agency announced today.
The company’s work site at 109 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City had 10 serious safety violations and one repeat violation, OSHA said in a news release. The violations carry penalties of $46,200, with the serious violations carrying a $36,960 penalty and the repeat violation carrying a $9,240 penalty.
This isn’t the first time Clara Construction has run afoul of workplace standards for safety, OSHA officials said.
“For this company, it was fall hazards,” OSHA Deputy Regional Director Joanna Hawkins said. “They were cited for the same violation in 2010.”
Clara Construction officials could not be reached for comment.
Hawkins said the repeat violation was issued because Clara Construction had been previously cited for hazards at a worksite in Long Island City, N.Y., while the serious violations were all issued for separate instances of failing to comply with OSHA regulations on fall hazards.
OSHA defines a serious violation as “when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.”
OSHA conducted the inspection of the work site as part of its local emphasis program focused on preventing falls in the workplace.
“Once the company receives the citation, they have 15 business days to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the citations,” Hawkins said.
The OSHA news release outlined a list of the specific hazards at the Christopher Columbus Drive work site:
“Failing to protect workers from fall and impalement hazards, ensure scaffold platforms were laid correctly, provide proper ladder rung construction, make sure guardrails were at sufficient heights and makeshift devices were not created to increase platform height, inspect scaffolds, provide proper scaffold training, provide guardrails near wall holes and provide protection around surface holes.”
“Falls remain one of the leading causes of fatalities on construction sites,” Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office, said in a statement. “Employers are responsible for providing workers with basic fall protection to prevent potential injuries.”
