Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
Employers have to protect employees from dangers on the job! If not, they’re going to get fined like Monster Contracting LLC did. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the framing contractor is now facing nearly $60,000 in proposed fines for failing to prevent residential construction-related work accidents in New England. These fines were the result of an inspection conducted by the OSHA area office.
“Employees at this job site faced the risk of disabling or deadly injuries from falls, crushing injuries or being struck by flying debris or objects while operating nail guns and other tools,” said Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s area director.
Training is important! Employees at this job site were not trained in precautions that could have avoided work-related hazards. Our Boston workers compensation attorneys recommend that all employees keep an eye out for dangers on the job. Yes, it’s the employer’s job to minimize accident risks on the job site. Unfortunately, though, that doesn’t always happen. Be a proactive employee and keep an eye out for dangers before they have the chance to harm anymore.
The company was cited for:
-Exposing employees to falls of up to 20-feet while performing interior and exterior frame work without providing them with the proper fall protection.
-Working near unguarded windows, stairwells and floor openings.
-Failing to provide employees who work with nail guns, staplers and power tools with the proper eye protections.
-For allowing employees to misuse ladders or to use unsafe ladders.
-For having damages on slings that are used to lift walls.
-For failing to ensure that truck operators had been properly trained.
-For allowing dangerous access to elevated portions on the buildings.
-For leaving nails protruding out of lumber on the job site.
-For not properly training workers to recognize electrical, flying objects, material handling and fall hazards.
-For neglecting to train workers on how to safely operate work-related power tools and how to properly use ladders.
Monster Contracting LLC has 15 business days to either pay the fines or to meet with an area director to contest these violations.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were more than 750 construction employees who were killed on the job in 2010 in the U.S. Nearly 40 percent of these fatalities were the result of fall accidents.
Work accidents in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Report:
-The health and education industry accounted for nearly 30 percent of all work-related injuries and illnesses.
-The construction industry tallied the highest incident rate, with 6.1 per 100 employees.
-More than 40 percent of on-the-job accidents required time away from work.
-Most commonly, injuries at work result in either a sprain or a strain.
-Employees between the ages of 25- and 44-years-old had the highest number of work-related illnesses and injuries.
-Work-related accidents most often injure an employee’s shoulders or back.
Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers LLC is a group of experienced and knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorneys who are dedicated to fighting for the rights of those employees who have been injured at work in Boston and elsewhere in Massachusetts. Call (617) 777-7777 for a free consultation.
More Blog Entries:
Schnitzer Northeast Fined by OSHA for Failing to Prevent Work-Related Accidents in Everett, Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, January 19, 2012
CDC Recognizes Fall Accidents in Boston and Elsewhere with Start of 2012, Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, January 6, 2012