ConDig (18-Oct-17).  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has hit the owner of New Jersey-based contractor DH Construction LLC with a fine of $191,215 for scaffold violations at a site in Philadelphia.

OSHA said that DH Construction owner, Vyacheslav Leshko, was cited for eight repeat and two serious violations for exposing workers to fall and electrical hazards, failing to train employees on scaffold hazards and failing to develop and implement an accident prevention program. He was also cited for not providing employees with hard hats.

Leshko was also cited in 2014 for similar violations at worksites for another company he owned, T&S Masonry.

“Scaffolding hazards continue to be one of OSHA’s most frequently cited violations. These well-known scaffold hazards could have been avoided if basic safety practices were implemented,” said OSHA Philadelphia area director Theresa Downs.

The annual number of fall fatalities in construction increased by 36% from 269 to 367 between 2011 and 2015, exceeding the growth in employment and total fatalities in the industry, according to a report issued earlier this year by The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).

More than half (55%) of fall fatalities in construction occurred at a height of 20 feet or less, with falls from roofs comprising one-third of fall deaths, followed by falls from ladders at 24%.

In August, residential and commercial roofing contractor Great White Construction Inc. was hit with fines of more than $1.5 million by the OSHA for fall hazards.