Arkansas construction company receives OSHA fine following worker fatality

Crossland Construction Co. is facing OSHA penalties of $63,000 for alleged safety violations following the death of a worker who fell from a roof in December 2005.

OSHA cited Crossland Construction Co., Rogers, AR, with four alleged serious and one repeat violation of safety standards following a comprehensive inspection prompted by the death of a worker during construction of a metal warehouse at a Rogers' construction site. Crossland is a general contractor and employs about 600 workers.

"The worker who died laid decking on the roof, stepped on some insulation and fell through to the concrete below,” said Paul Hansen, OSHA's area director in Little Rock, Ark. “Had the company followed OSHA-controlled decking-zone standards, this tragedy could have been prevented."

The four serious citations were issued for failing to ensure that personal fall-arrest systems were used by employees working from the boom or basket of an aerial lift; failing to train employees to recognize and avoid scaffold hazards and failing to ensure that the controlled decking zone-partitioning off a safe section to work-boundaries were properly designated, marked and enforced. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to comply, request and participate in an informal conference with OSHA's Little Rock area director or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.