The number of violations in the top 10 increased almost 30% over the same time period in 2008.

The violations are:

1. Scaffolding: 9,093
2. Fall protection: 6,771
3. Hazard communication: 6,378
4. Respiratory protection: 3,803
5. Lockout/tagout: 3,321
6. Electrical (wiring): 3,079
7. Ladders: 3,072
8. Powered industrial trucks (forklifts): 2,993
9. Electrical: 2,556
10. Machine guarding: 2,364.

OSHA will update these numbers later in 2009. The preliminary list was released at the National Safety Council’s annual congress.

The agency has cited Sealcoating, Inc., of Hingham, MA, for $38,100 in violations after a nighttime inspection on its bridge restoration work.

The contractor was cited for 11 alleged repeat and serious violations as part of OSHA’s Boston North Area Office’s efforts to inspect construction projects where silica is generated.

“Employers should not assume that OSHA will not conduct inspections because much of their work is done at night,” said Paul Mangiafico, an OSHA area director.

Among the citations:

• employees exposed to excess silica levels while jack hammering concrete
• no controls to lower exposure levels
• failure to evaluate employees’ exposure levels
• inadequate respirator protection program and training, and
• no fit-testing of respirators.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to appeal the citations.

Francisco Moreno Garcia died as the result of an incident at the ADM facility in Decatur, IL, when a waste compression system malfunctioned. He was insulating pipes 15 feet in the air when he was sprayed with steam and hot caustic chemicals.

He struggled to free himself from his harness and tumbled to the ground. Third degree burns covered 90% of his body.

He lived in excruciating pain for a day and a half before doctors decided there was nothing more they could do to save him.

Workers’ comp awarded $60,000 to Garcia’s family in Mexico. Most of that will be returned to an insurance company after the family receives payment from the jury trial.

In many workplace deaths, the family can’t sue because workers’ comp prohibits it – it’s the “exclusive remedy.”

But in this case, Garcia was working for a contractor, so the family could sue ADM. The jury award was one of the largest such judgments in Illinois history for a single man with no spouse or children.

Starting this week, a group of 10 inspectors will be monitored. By the end of this month, all 379 will be tracked, according to The New York Times.

The tracking program is partially due to the case of former inspector Edward Marquette. He was charged last year with faking a report that he inspected a tower crane in response to a complaint. Authorities said he never visited the site, and 11 days later, the crane fell, killing seven people.

Officials have said it was unlikely the missed inspection had any relation to the incident.

Marquette has pleaded not guilty to charges. He also allegedly filed false inspection reports for cranes at two other sites.

A Buildings Department official said the agency doesn’t believe there are widespread reporting problems by inspectors. The monitoring system will also allow supervisors to dispatch the closest inspector to a building-related emergency and locate inspectors who lose contact with the department during hazardous inspections.

The union representing most inspectors doesn’t like the plan.

However, one inspector quoted by the Times said, “If you are where you’re supposed to be, you’ve got nothing to fear.” Inspectors will only be monitored while they’re on duty. When an inspector’s shift ends, the tracker will be turned off.

So, what do you think? Do safety inspectors need to be monitored? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Accident lawyer David Perecman put out a press release this week, Attorneys in New York Baffled at how Construction Related Deaths Continue to Occur. The statement is in response to the news that a 42-year-old working on a luxury apartment building fell to his death after a scaffold suddenly gave way.

The press release starts, “New York construction accident lawyers were left scratching their heads as they heard the news of a construction worker who died after falling four stories in Brooklyn, NY.”

The statement goes on to say, “New York construction accident lawyers like David Perecman continue to fight for more safety regulations on construction sites … there is a lack of proper safety precautions being taken on the job site.

“Until we ensure all bases are covered, like the proper equipment is available and people are trained appropriately, accidents like this won’t stop.”

What do you think about his point of view? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Texas had the highest number of workplace deaths in 2008: 457. However, that’s a 13% decrease from 528 deaths in 2007. (Note: The decrease may turn out to be lower. These figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are preliminary and usually go up.)

California ranks second with 404 fatalities, also a decrease from the previous year. Florida is third with 290, once again, a decrease.

Overall, the number of workplace deaths nationwide fell from 5,657 in 2007 to 5,071 in 2008. However, 14 states had increases: Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Virginia.

Texas ranked first in deaths due to contact with objects and equipment, and falls. OSHA recently started a special emphasis program on construction in Texas to prevent the number of construction fatalities there.

Texas also ranked first in deaths due to fires and explosions. Georgia ranked second in 2008 due to the Imperial Sugar Co. explosion and fire that killed 14 employees.

California had the most deaths due to assaults and violent acts, and exposure to harmful substances or environments.

To find out more about how your state ranks, click here.

The construction worker was trapped in a flooded tunnel under a highway.

Four workers were in a 24-inch diameter tunnel being dug for a water main according to Conroe, TX, police.

When a heavy downpour moved through the area, a supervisor told the employees to get out of the tunnel. Three employees were able to escape, one was not.

The employee’s body was found just more than two hours later, 50 feet from the tunnel’s opening.

The deceased employee worked for Boring and Tunneling Co. of America for 9 years.

The company’s president called the incident “a freak flood event.”

OSHA is investigating.

OSHA has issued a directive that cancels focused inspections for general industry for now. Focused inspections will continue in the construction and maritime industries.

The agency is in the process of considering a new Annual Operating Plan that will change the General Industry Inspection protocol.

OSHA developed guidelines for its inspectors to conduct focused inspections in the construction and maritime industries in 1994 and 1998, respectively. The agency says focused inspections allow it to use its resources more efficiently.

Focused inspections primarily address the predominant hazards of the industry. Comprehensive inspections look at a wide range of potential hazards.

In 2008, focused inspections were extended to general industry.

Information on focused inspections for the construction industry is here. Click here for information about the maritime program.

Dan Kavanaugh, vice president and general manager with Turner Construction Co. in Oregon, told the Daily Journal of Commerce, “Money is not the motivator. A fine doesn’t mean anything to us.”

Dan Johnson, vice president of operations for Sakanska USA, agrees. “If they raised fines, would that become a motivation? I’m thinking ‘no.’”

However, Johnson says higher fines could be big financial hits for small and mid-sized construction companies.

Oregon OSHA administrator Michael Wood realizes that the fines he’s proposing still wouldn’t have a significant impact on the largest companies.

Wood is considering setting the cap for the most severe violations at $7,000. Now, it’s $5,000.

When a state OSHA inspects a company after a fatality, even the $5,000 fines can add up.

Recently, Oregon OSHA announced penalties totaling $90,000 against ConAgra Foods and a company performing repairs at a ConAgra plant in connection with an incident in which a welder was killed.

Wood acknowledges that ConAgra’s portion of the fine, $65,000, won’t be a big hit for such a large company. Besides raising fines, he’s considering a sliding scale based on company size.

Do you think OSHA fines are real motivation for companies to improve their safety? Is it different for larger vs. smaller companies? Should fines be higher for larger companies? Let me know in the Comments Box below.

A construction worker in Corpus Christi, TX, died of heat stroke.

On Aug. 5, 32-year-old Guadalupe Liscano was part of a home-building crew.

Co-workers found him slumped over, lying in the sun at about 2:30 p.m.

He was taken to the hospital where he later died. The medical examiner said he died of heat stroke.

What are some employers doing to help their outdoor workers stay safe from extreme heat?

MCO Construction in Miami puts a safety flier in employees’ paycheck envelopes to remind them of the dangers of heat stress, and also provides extra water and holds regular safety meetings when temperatures rise.

MCO’s crews also change from their company red to white shirts, which are more comfortable in the heat.

Florida Power & Light C. incorporates a “buddy system” asking co-workers to watch each other for signs of heat stress.

How do you help your outdoor workers cope with extreme heat? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

A 12-year-old boy died and his 8-year-old brother was injured after they got stuck in sand where their father was working in Azle, TX.

Edwin Gomez and his brother had climbed into the bed of a truck that was filled with sand.

They were playing there for a while when workers, who were installing a swimming pool, noticed a host used to pump the sand became jammed.

The workers found the 8-year-old buried up to his waist in the sand. The boy told the workers his brother was buried underneath the sand.

Workers dug the 12-year-old out and called 911.

Edwin was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The 8-year-old suffered a broken leg.

The local sheriff said the father won’t face any charges for bringing his children to a dangerous work site.

Do you have safety rules for children of employees at your company? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Last week, a worker was killed when he fell more than 20 stories from a high-rise construction site in Dallas.

Jose Aguila, 37, was installing metal louvers on the side of the building. A scaffold collapsed, and the worker’s safety harness failed, according to a report by NBC-5 in Dallas.

In June, OSHA announced an increase in construction-site inspections in Texas due to the high rate of worker fatalities and serious injuries.

Raleigh Roussell, with contractor organization TEXO, complains that some OSHA inspectors arriving at construction sites are transfers from other OSHA areas who don’t have construction experience. “The hazards are much different than those in a plant,” he said.

Personal injury attorney Mark Werbner is also critical of OSHA’s inspections, but for a much different reason.

Werbner says the agency is still far too easy on contractors and the fines for violations aren’t high enough.

What do you think? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that Labor Department officials and officials from other states have descended on Nevada to scrutinize how it investigates workplace accidents.

The Sun ran a series of articles last year — for which it won a Pulitzer Prize — detailing serious problems with worker safety in Nevada. During an 18-month stretch, 12 construction workers were killed on the Las Vegas Strip.

Acting OSHA head Jordan Barab had warned state officials that the feds planned to intensify their monitoring of state plans.

OSHA’s only enforcement tool is complete takeover of a state agency, something it’s never done. But OSHA observers say this intervention is the most dramatic in a state plan since 1991, when the feds strongly considered taking over North Carolina’s state plan.

A report is expected to be issued in about a month.

A lawyer representing the three men said the message to businesses is clear: If a company employs an illegal immigrant and that person gets hurt on the job, the employer is still responsible financially.

All three were in construction but working on different projects.

An illegal immigrant from Mexico was scalded over large portions of his body by an exploding pipe at a Wall Street construction site and settled his case for $2.5 million.

A second undocumented Mexican worker suffered severe injuries to his left foot and other parts of his body when a beam fell on his lower body at a building site in Manhattan. The worker settled his case for $750,000.

The third worker, from Ecuador, was injured at a construction site in Queens when three 44×10-foot trusses, each weighing 200 pounds, fell on him. He suffered a fractured hip and other injuries. His settlement is for $600,000.

This worker said at a news conference, “The contractor tried to blame me.” When asked what message he would give to other workers, he said, “Don’t be afraid to talk to a lawyer.”

Joel Magallan of Asociacion Tepeyac, an immigrant advocacy group, said, “They [undocumented immigrants] have to know today that they have rights — the same rights as other workers who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.”

Let us know what you think of this story in the Comments Box below.

Employee Noel Collins was injured due to a fall while installing ceiling tile in a movie theater owned by West 13th Street Owners Corp. He sued, claiming he wasn’t provided with an appropriate safety device, in this case a scaffold.

Collins had constructed a makeshift scaffold consisting of one piece of plywood on top of an A-frame ladder with the other end of the plywood resting on a wall that was the same height as the ladder.

The company argued that Collins was the sole cause of his injuries because he didn’t use materials on hand to construct a proper scaffold.

But the court said expecting the employee to build his own scaffold from scratch “improperly shifted the responsibility for creating a proper safety device” from the employer to the employee.

Now a jury will decide on damages.

Cite: Collins v. West 13th Street Owners Corp., Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Dept., NY, 6/30/09.

Between October 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009, OSHA has conducted 24,075 inspections, according to data released at the American Society of Safety Engineers’ Safety 2009 conference. At that rate, OSHA should match the number of inspections performed in 2008: 38,450.

So far in the 2009 fiscal year, 63% of inspections have been the result of OSHA programs that target industries or facilities with high incident rates.

The rest, 37% are due to fatalities, injuries or an employee complaint.

Six out of ten inspections have been in the construction industry.

In 2008, 121 inspections resulted in fines of more than $100,000. From Oct. 1, 2008 through June 26, 2009, there have been 72 six-figure or larger fines.

Sometimes, OSHA inspectors don’t find any problems. That’s been the case 22% of the time so far in FY ‘09.

OSHA finds an average of 3.1 violations per inspection. Of those, it classifies 81% in categories that mean higher fines for companies: serious, willful, repeat and failure to abate.

“Make no mistake about it: The Department of Labor (DOL) is back in the enforcement business,” Solis told an audience of safety professionals in San Antonio, TX, attending Safety 2009.

She acknowledges that in these difficult economic times it’s more difficult for safety professionals to sell employee safety and health to their companies. For that reason, Solis said the agency wants to work with more companies to help them provide safer workplaces so that mothers and fathers can return home, uninjured, to their children each day.

But the current recession isn’t stopping OSHA and its parent department, DOL, from stepping up enforcement.

Solis noted that OSHA’s 2010 budget request calls for 130 more inspectors. In comments to reporters after her speech, Solis said, “I’d like to have more [inspectors], but we’re not in that position,” due to the economy.

The Secretary was asked about the lack of a permanent administrator for OSHA. Jordan Barab is the acting administrator and will assume the No. 2 position at the agency once a permanent head is confirmed. Solis expressed frustration with the U.S. Senate confirmation process. She noted that there are other nominees to DOL positions who have been in the pipeline for four months without being confirmed. She said it was important to have a new leader of OSHA, and that’s why Barab was appointed interim administrator, which doesn’t require Senate confirmation.

Solis said she hasn’t yet read the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found deficiencies with OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program. She said she agrees with the concerns expressed by the GAO and by members of the House and Senate regarding OSHA’s enforcement capabilities.

The Secretary also took the opportunity during her speech in front of thousands of safety professionals in San Antonio to announce a new initiative to decrease construction fatalities and injuries in Texas. Since 2007, there have been 145 construction fatalities in Texas, a number Solis called “intolerable.”

Beginning in July, OSHA will increase the number of inspectors in Texas for a concentrated effort aimed at construction sites. If an inspector sees scaffold, fall, trenching or other hazards, they’re empowered to launch an immediate investigation.

Check back with SafetyNewsAlert.com often this week for updates from the ASSE Safety 2009 conference.

Leonidas Gomez was performing demolition work on a building in New York City.

The building was already partially demolished, and he had to remove a window from the remaining structure.

The only way for him to do that was to stand on a fire escape.

While he was trying to remove the window, the fire escape detached from the building, and Gomez fell to the ground.

The worker sued for his injuries, claiming that the fire escape should be considered a scaffold under New York law.

The court agreed. It said the fact that a fire escape is usually a permanent structure and a scaffold is a temporary one didn’t matter in this case.

Since a scaffold couldn’t be erected on the partially demolished building, the fire escape acted as a scaffold and the law applied.

New York’s unique scaffold law requires building owners and general contractors to provide workers with proper scaffolds, hoists, harnesses and other appropriate PPE for use when working at elevations.

Cite: Gomez v. City of New York et al, New York Supreme Court, 6/11/09.

In the last two weeks, three undocumented workers have reached settlements totaling $3.85 million for workplace accidents in New York.

A lawyer representing the three men said the message to businesses is clear: If a company employs an illegal immigrant and that person gets hurt on the job, the employer is still responsible financially.

All three were in construction but working on different projects.

An illegal immigrant from Mexico was scalded over large portions of his body by an exploding pipe at a Wall Street construction site and settled his case for $2.5 million.

A second undocumented Mexican worker suffered severe injuries to his left foot and other parts of his body when a beam fell on his lower body at a building site in Manhattan. The worker settled his case for $750,000.

The third worker, from Ecuador, was injured at a construction site in Queens when three 44×10-foot trusses, each weighing 200 pounds, fell on him. He suffered a fractured hip and other injuries. His settlement is for $600,000.

This worker said at a news conference, “The contractor tried to blame me.” When asked what message he would give to other workers, he said, “Don’t be afraid to talk to a lawyer.”

Joel Magallan of Asociacion Tepeyac, an immigrant advocacy group, said, “They [undocumented immigrants] have to know today that they have rights — the same rights as other workers who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.”

Let us know what you think of this story in the Comments Box below.

Building Austin, Building Injustice, released by the group Workers Defense Project that’s based in the Texas city, says construction companies are shifting the burden of caring for injured workers to the public because low-wage workers often depend on government support, hospitals and charities.

The study found that violations of workplace regulations are common in the industry, including lack of PPE such as harnesses and hard hats.

Of more than 300 construction workers interviewed, 20% reported suffering an injury that required medical attention at some point during their careers. The report also claims 45% earned poverty-level wages and 64% received no OSHA safety training.

Construction representatives defended their industry in the Austin American-Statesman.

“We employ a full-time safety director to assist members with safety services and offer classes in both Spanish and English,” said Phil Thoden, president of the Austin chapter of Associated Contractors of America.

The report is available online here.

In Nevada, construction workers will have to complete a 10-hour OSHA safety course within 15 days of being hired. Supervisors will be required to take a 30-hour OSHA course. The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Employers must fire any worker who fails to provide proof of completing the required course. Companies can be fined for employing workers who don’t have the training.

The new law was prompted by 12 construction deaths at projects along the Las Vegas strip during a 19-month period between 2006 and 2008.

State Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera (D) helped draft the new law. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction to have everyone recognize safety is the most important factor.”

The bill passed the Assembly 39 to 3 and the Senate 20 to 0.

Do you think safety training requirements like this one will help prevent worker fatalities? Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.

California authorities have made massive allegations of workers’ comp fraud against an employer.

The Orange County District Attorney has charged the owners of three California roofing businesses with $38 million in workers’ comp fraud.

Michael Petronella and Devon Kile are accused of skirting comp payments by under-reporting the number of employees working for their companies and by discouraging their workers from filing claims. They both face between five and 102 years in prison.

Officials started an investigation when an employee of one of the companies fell off a roof and collected $6,000 in workers’ comp coverage.

The employee said he was working for Petronella Roofing, which had workers’ comp coverage. In fact, he was on a different company’s payroll, Western Cleanoff. Western had no comp insurance because it claimed it didn’t have any employees.

The indictment cites 41 other instances of employees who filed comp claims while on the payroll of uninsured companies owned by Petronella and Kile.

The district attorney accuses the two owners of playing a shell game of shuffling payrolls to make fraudulent claims for uncovered workers who were injured.

Why should other companies care?

Does comp fraud by some companies impact others who do the right thing and purchase proper insurance coverage?

One obvious reason it does: Companies without proper comp insurance have lower costs and can charge less than competitors.

Here’s another reason: Fraud is a key factor behind high comp insurance rates for other companies. When employers under-report the number of insured workers to reduce their comp premiums, it looks like there are fewer workers in a particular industry.

Comp premiums are based on injury rates in an industry. If the number of total workers is too low, but the number of injured workers stays the same, it appears that an industry has a higher accident rate than it actually does.

In California, where this case took place, the state Workers’ Compensation Insurance Bureau recently recommended a 24% average increase in comp premiums.

In a recent poll on Safety News Alert, only 19% of respondents said the current workers’ comp laws were just about right.

What do you think about the state of workers’ comp? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

The Orange County Register has more about this fraud case here and here.

ANC roofing owner Kenneth Alton entered a no contest plea to the charge of failing to protect employees from a hazard. He was sentenced to nine months in jail and fined $248,000.

Company supervisor Robert McAfee plead no contest to a single misdemeanor violation and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Another former ANC owner will be sentenced in May.

On May 11, 2006, ANC employee Antonio Serrano backed into an unguarded skylight and fell 21 feet to his death while performing roofing work. Cal/OSHA fined ANC $14,400 for not providing a barrier to prevent a fall through a skylight opening in that incident.

Four months later on Sept. 21, 2006, ANC employee Jose Maya suffered major head trauma when he fell 19 feet from an unprotected skylight while working on a different roofing project. Cal/OSHA fined ANC $70,000 in that incident and referred the case to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office.

An investigation revealed that ANC continued to operate in flagrant violation of the California Labor Code after Serrano died in the first incident.

California law requires that employees have fall protection if they’re working within six feet of a skylight.

A-1 Excavating employee Eugene Hakes was using a large, gas-powered saw to cut through a water main in a trench.

The saw kicked back and struck him in the neck, police said.

He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to WEAU-TV.

An OSHA spokesman said using the saw in the trench would not be a violation as long as it was operating properly and all the guards were in place. OSHA is investigating.

A-1 recently was fined $700,000 for 11 OSHA citations for life-threatening violations involving  a trench project last September.

The company failed to protect workers from possible cave-ins in an 8-foot-deep trench.

A-1 contested those violations and refused to come to a settlement agreement, according to OSHA.

PARKERSBURG, W. VA. – To mark National Window Safety Week, April 5 – 11, 2009, Simonton Windows® has come up with a list of tips to help builders and remodelers safely transport, install and handle windows at the job site.

Tip #1 – Use caution and proper lifting techniques when it comes time to move, lift and place windows in their openings. Windows can be heavier than they appear, so using a team effort is a good idea.

Tip #2 – Make sure window units are locked before moving or transporting them. You don’t want the sash to slide open while a unit is being moved!

Tip #3 – If you’re storing windows at a job site, never stack items on top of them or directly against the window units. This could cause breakage of the glass or harm the frames. It’s best to keep the windows wrapped in their original packaging until you’re ready to install them in a structure.

Tip # 4 – Before removing the protective packaging, visually inspect each unit to make sure the unit has not been damaged during shipping. Also look to make sure the unit is the correct size, style, color, etc. compared to the original order and that they appear in good working condition.

Tip #5 – While handling a window installation project, do not lay window units flat against the ground. The weight of the units can harm the lawn in a short amount of time.

Tip #6 – Before starting a replacement window project, make sure homeowners have secured all family pets and young children, so there are no surprises underfoot while you’re working with heavy window units.

Tip #7 – If you have a cherry picker or other lift unit on site for a project, use it to help safely transport windows being installed on the second floor of homes (and higher). Also make certain to have people stationed inside the window opening to assist positioning it into place.

Tip #8 – If you have to use a ladder to install a window, work in the buddy system. Always have someone hold the base of the ladder for you and secure it on a level surface. Avoid loose-fitting clothing (which could get stuck in the ladder) and wear close-toed shoes or sneakers. For additional ladder safety tips, visit http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/news/august-2006/ladder-safety-tips-and-risks-for-stepladders-telescoping-extension-ladders-8-06/overview/0608_ladder-safety-tips-and-risks_ov.htm.

Tip #9 – Looking to make newly-installed windows sparkle? Never use a high-pressure spray washer. The extreme pressure could crack or destroy caulking around the units. Instead, take time to individually clean the windows. If you have vinyl-framed windows, a soft cloth or ordinary long-handled soft bristle brush and some mild detergent may be all that’s necessary to maintain your windows. And, remember not to use abrasive cleaners that may scratch the frame or glass.

Tip #10 – Leave all window labels on each unit until the entire project is completed. This helps reduce the chance of the glass being broken because someone didn’t see that the windows had been installed! And, at the very end of the project, save all labels and present them to the homeowners who may need them for energy tax credit and warranty back-up.

Simonton Windows produces ENERGY STAR® qualified replacement and new construction windows and doors, including a line of impact-resistant products. Founded in 1946, Simonton’s hallmark has been to deliver its made-to-order products in five days or less. Part of the home and hardware division of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), Simonton delivers nationwide to key markets throughout the 48 continental United States. For information, call (800) SIMONTON or visit www.simonton.com. ENERGY STAR is a trademark owned by The Nelrod Corporation.

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