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Construction contractor cited after worker crushed to death

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contractor cited

A California contractor has received citations for serious safety violations after a worker was crushed to death at a San Rafael, California, construction site.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued $26,540 in citations to West Coast Land and Development Inc., based in Concord, California, the agency said in a news release Thursday.

Two workers had been framing and installing a shear wall on the third floor of a house under construction on Sept. 18, 2018, when a worker went to get plywood from a stack of 26 panels leaning against a wall. A foreman found the worker’s body 20 minutes later, crushed by the stack.

Cal/OSHA cited West Coast for eight violations. In addition to the serious accident-related violation for failing to properly secure the vertically stacked plywood, inspectors also cited the company for serious hazards relating to a failure to guard an opening on the house’s second floor, failure to protect workers from impairment hazards on exposed reinforcing steel projections, and failure to protect workers from falls of 15 feet or greater. The agency also issued a regulatory citation for West Coast’s alleged failure to obtain a construction-related permit, and cited the company for general violations related to failure to evaluate work hazards, protect workers from loose rock or soil, or provide handrails and stair rails, according to the release.

West Coast Land and Development did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

 

 

 

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