An Ohio contractor entered into a settlement agreement with OSHA after an investigation into a worker’s June 2020 fatal fall that saw three others injured.
The agreement has Industrial Insulation and Coatings accepting an OSHA citation for a willful violation of the construction industry fall protection standard and paying an $84,201 fine.
Under the June 17 settlement agreement, Industrial Insulation and Coatings will also:
- implement enhanced abatement measures
- ensure all existing and newly hired management and supervisors receive and complete OSHA 30-hour training, and
- ensure all existing non-management and non-supervisor employees receive and complete OSHA 10-hour training.
Worker’s fall caused chain reaction
The incident occurred while three employees of Industrial Insulation and Coatings were installing metal shingles on a steep-pitched roof at an indoor horse-riding facility in Mars, PA.
One of the workers lost his balance and fell from the roof, causing two more workers to fall with him along with an employee from another company who fell from a ladder jack scaffold. Investigators found that none of these workers were wearing fall protection. Further, the deceased worker had slipped on the same roof a week before his death.
Second company fined $18K
OSHA also issued one willful and two serious violations to John Bylar Construction, the employer of the third injured worker.
The Pennsylvania-based company paid an $18,000 fine for those violations.
