Category: Fall Protection

OSHA Encouraged by Decline in Death Investigations

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated 826 worker deaths in fiscal year (FY) 2024—an 11% reduction from 928 in the previous year, the agency announced November 4. FY 2024 ended September 30. The agency noted significant decreases in the number of fatal injuries from trench collapses and falls, two of the leading causes […]

Back to Basics: The Costs of Safety Failures

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the costs of safety failures. The failure to put safety protections in place can be costly, resulting in large Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines, injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, as well […]

ALJ Orders Roofing Contractor to Pay OSHA Fine

An administrative law judge (ALJ) with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ordered a Rochester, New York, commercial roofing company to pay $16,782 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for serious fall and ladder violations, OSHA announced October 24. The ALJ upheld the agency’s citation of Elmer W. Davis Inc. for allowing workers […]

NSC Reveals Data Behind OSHA’s ‘Top 10’

The construction industry fall protection standard remained the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) most frequently cited standard for the 14th straight year, the agency announced September 17 at the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Safety Congress & Expo in Orlando. Two days after OSHA announced its annual “top 10” list of most cited standards, the […]

Exposures to Insights: A Data-Driven Approach to Preventing Fatal Falls

According to a report released by the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR), the number of fatal falls in the construction industry has increased by 50% over the course of the last 12 years. Our approach to fall prevention isn’t working—it’s time for a new tactic. The construction industry often defaults to the easiest […]

Parker Details OSHA’s Safety Initiatives at ASSP Conference

While it continues to work on new standards on heat stress and infectious disease, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is emphasizing its willingness to work with businesses to improve worker protection. Speaking last week at the American Society of Safety Professionals’ (ASSP) Safety 2024 conference, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and […]

Adidas Facing $396K in New OSHA Fines

Athletic apparel and shoemaker Adidas America Inc. faces $396,377 in new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for failing to correct fall hazards at its Chester, New York, warehouse, which was originally cited in March 2022, the agency announced August 9. OSHA also issued the employer a Failure to Abate notice on top of […]

New Jersey Contractor Facing $485K OSHA Fine

U.S. Tank Painting Inc., a New Jersey water tank painting contractor, is facing $485,580 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a worker’s 80-foot fall from a Bayville, New Jersey, water tower, resulting in severe injuries, the agency announced July 24. Agency investigators determined that U.S. Tank Painting employed workers to sandblast and […]

Fall protection compliance

OSHA Cites Illinois Contractor for Continuing Fall Violations

Elmer Miller, an Illinois construction contractor operating as Miller Building Systems LLC, faces $354,912 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after the agency again found workers were exposed to falls from elevation at four jobsites. The agency cited Miller with four willful fall protection violations, OSHA announced July 12. Agency investigators observed violations […]