The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited a concrete contractor with six safety violations and $200,000 in penalties in the death of an employee in September.
An OSHA investigation into the incident determined that John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete, East Freeton, Massachutts, could have prevented the fatality.
Investigators determined that the contractor instructed the employee to remove a soil screen on a conveyor, after which the employee was crushed between the conveyor and its frame because the company failed to ensure the conveyor's power source was disabled to prevent its unintended startup.
"John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc.'s failure to employ well-known safeguards needlessly cost a worker's life," said James Mulligan, OSHA area director in Braintree, Massachusetts, in a statement. "Employers must develop and rigorously maintain equipment and each element of their energy control plans to identify and minimize hazards and protect workers' safety and health."
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OSHA investigators found that the company did not do the following:
- Have an energy control program to isolate the conveyor's power source and prevent an unintended startup.
- Provide locks, tags or other hardware to isolate, secure or block machines and equipment from their energy sources to prevent sudden starts or moves.
- Adequately maintain the soil screener, which had numerous defects and missing parts.
- Forbid employees from riding in a front-end loader's bucket, exposing them to crush and fall hazards.
- Record each work-related fatality, injury or illness case on the OSHA Form 300 or equivalent.
OSHA cited the company for six violations, including three willful and two serious violations and one other-than-serious violation. The agency assessed $200,905 in proposed penalties.
Source: OSHA
