Fatal Fall at Webb Building Construction Site in Buffalo, N.Y.

OSHA, Oct 01, 2007

Leads to $49,000 in U.S. Labor Department OSHA fines for area contractor

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited David Burke Construction LLC of Hamburg, N.Y., for alleged repeat and serious violations of fall protection safety standards after an employee fell 30 feet to his death at a Buffalo worksite on March 20.

The accident occurred at the Webb Building, 90 Pearl St., which is undergoing renovation. The employees were working on the second floor, at the edge of deteriorated and missing floor sections that opened to the building's basement, when an employee fell through the missing floor section.

OSHA's inspection found no guardrails or safety nets were present, and the employees did not have a personal fall arrest system, such as a safety harness, that would have stopped a fall. Additional fall hazards stemmed from ladder holes that lacked guardrails or offsets to prevent employees from inadvertently walking or falling into the holes.

"This case is the most extreme and unfortunate example of what can and does happen when fall protection is not used," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo. "The need for fall protection is clear and required and there's absolutely no good reason for its absence in this type of work situation. The use of required safeguards would have prevented this death."

For the full accident article please feel free to visit www.osha.gov.