OSHA uses per-employee citations to build big penalty
February 16, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: criminal charges, Falls, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, PPE (protective equipment), Safety training
PDF A construction company faces $789,000 in fines and its owner could spend up to six months in jail following a worker fatality.
On Aug. 15, 2009, 29-year-old Carl Beck fell 42 feet from a roof in Washington, PA, while laying shingles and died.
Beck worked for C.A. Franc Construction. OSHA issued the company $539,000 in fines. Company owner, Christopher Franc, also faces $250,000 and six months in prison in connection with his guilty plea to criminal charges of violating safety rules.
OSHA found the company had failed to provide any fall protection to its employees working on a pitched roof 40 feet above the ground. The agency issued 10 per-instance willful citations, one for each employee working on the roof without fall protection. An 11th citation says Frank failed to train a new employee.
The company has 15 days to respond to the OSHA citations. Christopher Franc will be sentenced June 18.
SafetyNewsAlert.com delivers the latest Safety news once a week to the inboxes of over 270,000 Safety professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to SafetyNewsAlert!
Tags: criminal charges, fall fatality, jail, per-employee citations
Loading ...
February 16th, 2010 at 11:25 am
That’s fine. We can all go to jail, and the whiners with no personal responsibility can run the impoverished country.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:52 am
[...] reading here: OSHA uses per-employee citations to build big penalty … Share and [...]
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 am
Well said John, “no personal responsibility”, blame the big bad business owner for daring not to teach his workers how not to fall off a roof……something I learned when I was 8! I have worked for roofers before and we had no “fall protection” which means I certainly could have fallen off myself but, if I did, it was a known risk in a somewhat dangerous job. Certainly a tragedy that this death occured but to punish a business owner, criminally, is ludicrous unless he pushed him off!
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Well said Michael, this story proves exactly what is wrong with our society. No personal responsibility and no accountability.
Like the business owner has the time to train each employee on the safety of not falling off of the roof. Most roofing contractors use temporary labor and usually experienced but that experienced employee is not always available.
Sorry this guy died but the only thing this owner is guilty of is hiring an inexperienced roofer. But jail time? are you serious….
February 26th, 2010 at 7:59 am
How about fining the municipality that allowed this dangerous building to be built? How about jailing the zoning officer or building inspector who permitted this dangerous condition? How about we lock up God for inventing gravity that pulled this unfortunate man to his death?
Sorry to say, this country is doomed by stupidity. I do feel really bad for the owner and his family. More victims of out-of-control government.
February 26th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Any roofing company mamagment people that allows workers to work on a steep pitched roof 40 feet in height without fall protection should be fined heavily. If a person is killed because mgmt did not train the worker and provide that person with personal protective equipment ( fall protection) I would say that jail time may be necessary in some cases.
Roofing is extremely dangerious work and unfortunately some of the employers still have that old school bad safety attitude that has no place in todays workplace.
March 10th, 2010 at 6:23 am
The judge who will be sentencing him should also review if the safety factor was priced into his job. Perhaps the municipality that awarded him the job removed this frivolous expense. If so, then the city officials who negotiated this job should go to jail. Tis a pity that a poor soul died, but arresting this man after this rather hefty fine, sure looks to me like someone else is dying a slow death. I guess not to mention all those who are no longer employed.
P.S. I hope OSHA bonuses are well distributed!
May 4th, 2010 at 9:24 am
For once I agree with a decision. OSHA needs some teeth. Small fines and low probability of inspection are not a significant incentive for employees/employers to work safely.
Although I agree that employees should bear some responsibility, that does not excuse the employer. The employer has substantial ability to influence an employee’s decisions. Fines and penalties should apply to employer AND employee. Only when the employer has invested the time and money to develop/install an effective protection system AND can show evidence of progressive disciplinary action for employee safety violations would I excuse employer responsibility.
January 24th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Some of the repsonses here are unreal. People need to wake up and realize that most of these requirements have been in place since 1970 and the sad thing is that instead of employers taking the necessary steps, resources etc. to protect their employees on their own, they have to be forced to comply. If that means fines and jail time then so be it.
Employers try to save as much time and money as possible, resulting in situations just like this. This is an example of complete disregard for employee safety and thats whats wrong with todays society. Companies like this should not even be in business or should go work in China if they dont want to follow regulations. I for one wouldnt want them working on my building.