44°
Whole Life Construction, located at 306 Bird Circle, was issued a citation on Jan. 21 by the U.S Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It cited the construction company for five repeat and two serious violations of workplace safety standards at a residential roofing job at 121 Anson St. in Bridgeport.
Upon investigation, OSHA inspectors found four employees working without fall protection — three atop the roof and one on a scaffold. These employees faced falls of more than 20 feet and 26 feet, respectively.
The rooftop employees had not been trained in fall protection, OSHA said. The scaffold was not properly erected and braced, and employees were not trained to recognize scaffold hazards. In addition, employees faced electrocution hazards while working too close to energized power lines.
"This employer has again deprived its employees of required, life-saving protections. That is unacceptable. Whole Life Construction's workers risked deadly and disabling injuries from potential falls, scaffold collapse and electrocution. It is the employer's responsibility to take and maintain effective corrective action and provide its employees with safe working conditions at all its job sites," said Robert Kowalski, OSHA's area director in Bridgeport.
OSHA had previously cited Whole Life Construction for similar hazards at work sites in New Haven and Danbury.
The company's latest violations led OSHA to place Whole Life Construction in the agency's Severe Violators Enforcement Program. It focuses on employers who endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations. The proposed penalties for these violations are $48,400.
Whole Life Construction has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, meet with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To file a complaint, call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or call the agency's Bridgeport Area Office at 203-579-5581.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Danbury and receive free news updates.
