View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2023/08/08/734085.htm
The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division fined Hillsboro contractor Arm & Hammer Construction Inc. $66,420 for multiple violations of workplace safety rules.
In one violation, the company repeatedly failed to protect workers from fall hazards that could seriously injure or kill them, and in another, the company willfully decided against notifying Oregon OSHA a worker was hospitalized overnight due to an on-the-job injury, according to Oregon OSHA.
The citation against Arm & Hammer Construction stems from an inspection opened in March in response to a confidential complaint. The complaint concerned work in mid-Januaray at a jobsite in Hillsboro where employees were building a deck on the second level of an outbuilding near a house.
The complaint alleges the company did not provide employees with fall protection and that a worker fell and was hospitalized for broken ribs and punctured lungs. The complaint also alleged Arm & Hammer Construction decided against following an Oregon OSHA requirement that employers report work-related injuries that result in overnight hospitalizations.
The investigation found the company exposed an employee to the hazard of falling about 15 feet to the ground, and it did so by failing to comply with an Oregon OSHA rule that requires employers to implement fall protection systems when workers are exposed to a hazard of falling 6 feet or more to a lower level. It was the company’s fourth such violation since September 2021, according to Oregon OSHA.
It also found that although the owner of Arm & Hammer Construction was made aware of the work-related injury when it occurred, he reportedly willfully decided against complying with Oregon OSHA’s reporting requirement and instructed the injured worker to not report the incident.
The total penalty issued against Arm & Hammer Construction included a standard penalty reduction based on the size of the company. Under Oregon OSHA rules, penalties multiply when employers commit repeat offenses.
Employers have 30 days after receiving a citation to file an appeal.