N.Y. contractor cited for fall protection violations

Following a federal investigation into a fatal workplace injury, a Long Island, New York-based contractor was issued nine citations for serious safety violations, culminating in proposed penalties of $1,201,031.

On Aug. 19, 2021, an employee of DME Construction Associates Inc. died after falling 18 feet through an unprotected skylight, prompting an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The agency found that, in addition to the unprotected skylight, the employer exposed workers to falls of up to 22 feet from other unguarded roof openings and roof edges, and failed to provide employees with any personal fall protection equipment.

Prior this inspection, OSHA had cited DME seven times since 2011 for fall-related hazards, including not providing protection from falls through skylights and from roof edges, with more than $50,000 in unpaid fines.

Based on the company's violation history and intentional disregard of fall protection standards which resulted in a worker fatality, OSHA announced another nine willful violations issued to the company, including eight egregious per-instance citations for DME's failure to provide fall protection for each of the eight employees who worked on the roof. The agency also cited the company for four serious violations for other fall hazards, and for violations related to the crane in use on-site.