ConDig (31-Jan-24) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a Georgia-based plumber $184,387 after a 34-year-old employee’s fatal fall on a project in Rome.
The agency said that Silver Creek-based K&D Plumbing Inc had willfully failed to develop and implement a permit-required confined space entry program, including testing and ventilating the space, before allowing employees to enter a manhole.
The agency also cited K&D with six serious violations for not providing ladders or other safe means of egress from the 6-foot-deep trench and protections or controls for water accumulation inside the trench.
In addition, the employer failed to have a competent person inspect the trench prior to workers entering and for not ensuring excavated soil and uninstalled piping were stored at least two feet from the trench edge, preventing them from rolling back inside the trench and striking workers.
Investigators from OSHA found that a three-person work crew from K&D Plumbing was replacing a sewer line at Armuchee High School when they encountered a blockage in a pipe. To clear the blockage near the end of a 60-foot-long trench, one worker entered a manhole. A short time later, the worker fell about 20 feet, where they succumbed to injuries as a result of the fall and subsequent exposure to a high atmospheric concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas.
“K&D Plumbing’s failure to adhere to industry guidelines resulted in a preventable loss of life,” said OSHA area office director Jeffery Stawowy in Atlanta-West. “Implementing safety controls and training employees to recognize and avoid hazards is every employer’s responsibility.”
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA announced enhanced nationwide enforcement and additional oversight to support its national emphasis program on preventing injuries related to trenching and excavation collapses. The agency’s trenching and excavation webpage provides information on trenching hazards and solutions, including a video on tips for safe excavations.
Among the industry’s most dangerous hazards, unsafe trenching and excavations led to 40 construction workers suffering fatal injuries in 2022.
Earlier this month, OSHA fined a Florida roofing contractor and a homebuilder for fall hazards on a project in Boca Raton.
The agency said it cited All Phase Roofing with three repeat violations for not utilizing fall protection, failing to have a competent person provide an inspection of a worksite to ensure employees use the proper safety equipment before work begins. It also cited the company for allowing employees to perform roofing work before training them to recognize hazards and the proper use of fall protection equipment.
Georgia plumber fined after fatal fall on Rome project
ConDig (31-Jan-24) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a Georgia-based plumber $184,387 after a 34-year-old employee’s fatal fall on a project in Rome.
The agency said that Silver Creek-based K&D Plumbing Inc had willfully failed to develop and implement a permit-required confined space entry program, including testing and ventilating the space, before allowing employees to enter a manhole.
The agency also cited K&D with six serious violations for not providing ladders or other safe means of egress from the 6-foot-deep trench and protections or controls for water accumulation inside the trench.
In addition, the employer failed to have a competent person inspect the trench prior to workers entering and for not ensuring excavated soil and uninstalled piping were stored at least two feet from the trench edge, preventing them from rolling back inside the trench and striking workers.
Investigators from OSHA found that a three-person work crew from K&D Plumbing was replacing a sewer line at Armuchee High School when they encountered a blockage in a pipe. To clear the blockage near the end of a 60-foot-long trench, one worker entered a manhole. A short time later, the worker fell about 20 feet, where they succumbed to injuries as a result of the fall and subsequent exposure to a high atmospheric concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas.
“K&D Plumbing’s failure to adhere to industry guidelines resulted in a preventable loss of life,” said OSHA area office director Jeffery Stawowy in Atlanta-West. “Implementing safety controls and training employees to recognize and avoid hazards is every employer’s responsibility.”
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA announced enhanced nationwide enforcement and additional oversight to support its national emphasis program on preventing injuries related to trenching and excavation collapses. The agency’s trenching and excavation webpage provides information on trenching hazards and solutions, including a video on tips for safe excavations.
Among the industry’s most dangerous hazards, unsafe trenching and excavations led to 40 construction workers suffering fatal injuries in 2022.
Earlier this month, OSHA fined a Florida roofing contractor and a homebuilder for fall hazards on a project in Boca Raton.
The agency said it cited All Phase Roofing with three repeat violations for not utilizing fall protection, failing to have a competent person provide an inspection of a worksite to ensure employees use the proper safety equipment before work begins. It also cited the company for allowing employees to perform roofing work before training them to recognize hazards and the proper use of fall protection equipment.