Company fined for fatality; owner calls OSHA ‘biggest bully’
August 27, 2012 by Fred HosierPosted in: Compliance, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, OSHA news
PDF See what you think about this: OSHA fines a company in connection with a worker’s death. The owner says he won’t pay the fines because the government is “the biggest bully there is.”
On May 15, 2012, Linwood Stover’s Kennebec Home Improvement was making repairs on a camp building in Albion, Maine.
One employee, Bobbie Rodriques, crawled under the building to do some work. Something shifted and the building collapsed, killing Rodriques.
OSHA says the building had been jacked off its foundation and onto blocks. Stover contests that, saying the building had collapsed when it was on its existing posts.
In an interview with the Bangor Daily News, Stover said he’s not going to pay $9,420 in fines for three serious violations.
Along with the bully comment, Stover told the newspaper, “[OSHA's] system is way broken. They need to fix their system before they try to fix mine.”
The business owner called the experience “traumatic,” noting that Rodriques was a friend of his who needed money. Stover says he hired him for the day to give him a job.
This isn’t the first time Stover has faced OSHA.
In 2010, OSHA fined his company $6,750 for five serious violations involving wiring design, ladders and tools.
Stover never paid that fine but didn’t formally contest it either. OSHA says the fine is still unpaid.
He has 15 business days from receiving the most recent citations to decide whether to contest them.
The Safety Insights You Need
Get the latest safety news, trends, and insights - delivered weekly.
Join over 334,000 safety pros:
Privacy policy
Tags: building collapse, bully, OSHA fines
Loading ...
August 24th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
If he pays it is as if he is admitting he is wrong. If he is wrong it is a wrongful death then there can be lawsuits.
We would not need OSHA and other regulators if things were done right in all cases. These organizations came into being because of the cost to the line workers business was incurring. From poor hours and pay to killing folk.
I do not know if this owner is in the wrong but to pay the fines it is as if you are admitting you are wrong. I feel for the deceased the deceased’s family and friends.
August 28th, 2012 at 8:54 am
I don’t like that he didn’t pay his fine and the fact OSHA doesn’t seem to care by not taking action. This will start a trend of companies not paying their fines and continuing to use unsafe practices.
August 28th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Two refusals to pay is outrageous. OSHA should take the company to court and prove their cases or drop the fines. If reckless negligence killed the employee, then there should be no sympathy for the business owner. If the risks could not have been reasonably foreseen, then that should be demonstrated. A death calls for a jucgement.
August 28th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Ted you are right.
August 28th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Saying that the deceased was a friend and that the incident was traumatic does not relieve him of culpability if he put his friend in an unsafe situation. Even if the building was still on an existing support structure, a reasonable hazard evaluation should have determined that it was unstable, and therefore not safe for anyone to crawl under. If it was really that close to imminent collapse that fact should have been obvious. If it was jacked and blocked, then it was not well supported. He’s responsible either way.
August 29th, 2012 at 10:13 am
Correct Robert
I would not want to work for any organization that had that poor a safety record.
It is a shame that anyone has to be hurt or lose their life to earn money to support themselves and their family. I know from experience the WC benefits can be very hard to get. I do not understand how some folk who do not deserve WC benefits get them.
September 25th, 2012 at 9:08 am
Those are pretty light fines for multiple serious violations. He should be happy to get off so easy.