Firms Are Fined For Collapse

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited three companies for “alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards” following the agency’s investigation of a Jan. 10 fatality that occured when a concrete wall at an Elmhurst construction site collapsed.

According to sources, employees were performing masonry work at the site, located at 84 18 Queens Blvd. between Grand Avenue and Van Loon Street, when an 18’ high by 65’ long concerte block wall fell at approximately 9:40 a.m., killing 27 year old Huberto Sanchez of Corona, and injuring three other workers.

“This was a tragic incident that could have been avoided by taking the simple and obvious precaution of bracing the block wall before trying to fill it with cement,” said Kay Gee, OSHA's area director in Manhattan, in a statement.

Sing Da Corp. (d.b.a. Chung Hing Co.) whose employees were found by an OSHA investigation to be working on the wall at the time of its collapse was cited for one “willful violation” carrying a proposed fine of $42,000 for failing to brace the block wall.

The company also was cited for five serious violations, with proposed penalties of $21,000, for other vari ous scaffold related safety hazards.

H Rock Corp. was cited for three serious violations related to scaffold safety and for not bracing the con crete wall, as well as for three serious violations related to unguarded floor holes, lack of head protection and lack of a safety program. The pro posed penalties total $38,000.

Vera Construction Inc. was cited for three serious violations with $8,580 in penalties for having un guarded floor holes, not having caps on reinforcing steel and not having a safety program.

As Vera had received similar cita tions in 2008 and 2009, the firm was also hit with two repeat violations, with fines of $6,732, for hazard com munication failures and a lack of hard hats.

A “willful violation,” according to OSHA, is one committed with “in tentional knowing or voluntary disre gard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.” A serious viola tion, meanwhile, occurs when there is “substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the em ployer knew or should have known.”

The total sum of the proposed penalties for the three employers is $116,312. The firms have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to pay up, meet with the OSHA area director or con test the findings before the independ ent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.