View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2015/12/09/391377.htm
Federal safety officials have cited a San Antonio-based framing contractor after a worker fell 35 feet to his death at a work site in Kyle, Texas.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Longhorn Contractors for safety violations at Kyle and Live Oak, Texas, work sites. Proposed penalties total more than $80,000.
OSHA said Gabriel Palacios died after falling from a roof while working for Longhorn Contractors. The company failed to provide appropriate fall protection equipment and training, which led to his death, a federal inspection found.
Longhorn Contractors was cited on Dec. 8 for three serious, two repeated and one other violation found at an apartment complex work site in Kyle.
OSHA cited the serious violations for failing to perform inspections and provide prompt medical attention and proper fall protection.
The agency cited the repeated violations for not enforcing the use of fall protection or providing fall protection training.
The other violation was for failing to report the fatality within eight hours.
In a second investigation, an OSHA inspector observed a fall hazard at a construction work site in Live Oak. OSHA cited the company for three repeated and one serious violation.
The agency cited the repeated violations for failing to provide fall protection and to address the safety and design of scaffold platforms. The serious violation was cited for using unstable objects as a work platform.
Citations issued for the Kyle work site includes proposed fines totaling $47,850. Citations issued for the Live Oak work site includes fines totaling $32,340.
Longhorn Contractors employs approximately 30 workers. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Baton Rouge, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Source: OSHA