A Hyde Park contractor with a long history of violating workplace
safety standards faces a total of $354,000 in new proposed fines from
the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, chiefly for exposing its employees to cave-in hazards at
work sites in Cambridge and Framingham. Since 2000, P. Gioioso &
Sons Inc., which is primarily engaged in the construction of underground
water and sewer mains, had been cited seven times for repeat violations
of OSHA's trenching and excavation safety standards prior to the
citations resulting from these most recent inspections.
"Time and again, this employer has chosen to ignore the law and, by
doing so, placed its workers' lives at risk," said Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels.
"Employers who ignore basic, common-sense and legally required
safeguards will face substantial fines and consequences."
The Cambridge inspection was opened when an OSHA inspector observed a
Gioioso employee working in an unprotected trench on Kimball Street.
During the inspection, a section of the trench wall collapsed while the
employee was still in the trench. The second inspection, at Grant and C
Streets in Framingham, began after a concerned passer-by informed OSHA
of workers in an unguarded trench. In both cases, OSHA found that the
trenches lacked cave-in protection and a ladder or other safe means for
workers to exit the trenches.
As a result of these conditions, OSHA has cited P. Gioioso & Sons
Inc. for four willful violations, each carrying the maximum allowable
penalty of $70,000. A willful violation is one committed with
intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements,
or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
"An unguarded excavation is only seconds away from becoming a grave,"
said Marthe Kent, OSHA's New England regional administrator. "While the
worker in the Cambridge trench was fortunate not to have been injured
when the trench's sidewall collapsed, worker safety must not and can
never be left to fortune. Responsible employers ensure that effective
safety measures are in place and in use before their workers enter a
trench."
The contractor also has been cited for five serious violations, with
$32,000 in fines, for allowing employees to be exposed to being struck
by the counterweight of an excavator at the Cambridge work site and a
variety of other hazards at the Framingham work site. A serious
violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or
serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the
employer knew or should have known.
Finally, P. Gioioso and Sons Inc. has been issued three repeat citations
with $42,000 in fines for trenching and electrical hazards at the
Framingham work site, including failing to maintain the minimum
clearance between an energized power line and excavating equipment. A
repeat violation exists 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. In this case, OSHA had cited the employer in 2009 for
similar hazards at work sites in Somerville, Tewksbury and Boston.
This latest significant enforcement action qualifies P. Gioioso &
Sons Inc. for placement in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program,
which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with
the law. Initiated in 2010, the program focuses on recalcitrant
employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or
failure-to-abate violations.
Login to read more.
|