The U.S. Department of Labor's
Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited South River-based Mr. Concrete Corp. with four repeat and five serious safety violations, including scaffold and fall hazards, found at a Maywood work site. OSHA's February inspection was initiated in response to imminent fall hazards observed by an OSHA compliance officer.
The repeat violations, with $69,300 in fines, involve exposure to fall hazards of approximately 20
feet while working from a scaffold lacking a fall protection system; workers on a scaffold more than 10 feet above a lower level while not protected from falling to that lower level; tubular welded frames and panels not properly braced; no limited access zone established during masonry wall construction; and lack of appropriate ladders, stair towers, walkways or access to scaffold platforms more than 2 feet above or below a point of access. The same violations were cited in 2010. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
The serious violations, with a $20,790 penalty, involve failing to guard the point of operation of a mortar mixer, ensure electrical equipment was properly grounded, ensure makeshift devices were not used to increase scaffold height, and to properly install toeboards on the scaffold edge. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
