OSHA FInes Construction Firm in Death of Laborer

Posted on Mar 05, 2008

A repeated offense for “inadequate fall-prevention equipment” cost the BC Construction company the life of one of its laborers and a fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA fined the company $22,400 and cited the construction firm for numerous "serious" violations in connection with the death of Benedelso N. Ovalle, 21, who fell 20 feet from a roof in Lynn last summer, according to The Salem News in Massachusetts. BC was renovating a home that was to become a new Baptist church in Salem at the time of the fatal accident.

The News reported the worker fell after hoisting a bundle of shingles to the roof, police said. "It appears he turned around to adjust the ladder and, as he did, he toppled over," a police spokesman said.

After its investigation, OSHA cited BC for a lack of "fall protection" equipment for its roofers, a defective ladder, improper safety harnesses and a lack of training to work on a roof. OSHA found BC workers wearing rock climber's harnesses instead of the standard full-body harnesses, the agency said.

Ovalle was conscious after falling but complained of stomach pain, the News said. He died before a medical helicopter could reach him for hospital transport. Police said Ovalle was not wearing a harness and only three of the five workers on the roof had fall-protection equipment.

In January 2007, BC was cited for inadequate fall-protection equipment in an accident in Peabody, OSHA reported.