Construction Contractor to Pay $144K in OSHA Fines

An East Patchogue construction contractor will pay $144,000 in penalties and implement enhanced compliance actions and policies to reduce workplace hazards for its companies' and subcontractors' employees as part of a stipulated settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.

On June 5, 2019, the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Northridge Construction Corp. for willful and serious fall protection, struck-by and electrical violations, following the Dec. 8, 2018, death of an employee. The employee fell 12 feet while walking on the roof panels of a partially completed structure in East Patchogue. Northridge Construction Corp. contested OSHA's citations to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The department and Northridge Construction Corp. have reached a settlement that upholds the department's citations and requires the company to pay $144,000 in penalties for its violations. The stipulated settlement agreement also includes enhanced abatement requirements that apply to all construction companies that Northridge Construction Corp. owner Tim Kaywood owns, manages, field supervises, or for which he serves as an officer.

The enhancements require all such companies to:

• Perform a pre-job hazard assessment and use a daily safety inspection checklist for all jobs.
• Ensure all forepersons have received OSHA 30-hour safety training and all field employees have received OSHA 10-hour safety training.
• Impose safety planning, training and inspection mandates on their subcontractors.

"This settlement affirms OSHA's citations, which found that Northridge Construction Corp. knowingly failed to safeguard its employees from fall hazards. Its terms require this employer to take substantive steps to prevent hazards and safety violations from recurring and underscore the U.S. Department of Labor's commitment to pursuing effective and appropriate legal actions to help ensure safe and healthy workplaces," said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York.

View the stipulated settlement agreement.

"While no settlement can restore a worker's life, it can result in enhanced practices and procedures designed to save others," said OSHA Area Director Kevin Sullivan in Westbury, Long Island. "Falls are among the deadliest hazards in construction work, but they are preventable by – among other things – supplying and requiring the use of fall protection equipment and the training workers need to use it properly."

The Justice Department previously announced that Northridge Construction Corp. pled guilty to related criminal charges in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York in Central Islip, New York, and that a sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 3, 2024.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 865 fatalities caused by falls in the workplace in 2022. Learn more about OSHA, fall protection in construction and protecting roofing workers.