May 3, 2002—Improperly erected scaffolding and failure to train workers on the hazards of working with scaffolding which resulted in the deaths of five workers and injuries to ten more on October 24, 2001, has resulted in citations against three New York contractors—Nesa, Inc, Tri-State Scaffolding & Equipment Supplies, Inc., and New Millennium Restoration & Contracting Corp.,— and $159,350 in penalties, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The scaffolding accident took place at 210 Park Avenue South in Manhattan, at a building that was undergoing restoration. The scaffolding, approximately 160 feet high from bottom baseplate to the top, collapsed, killing five employees and injuring ten more.
OSHA has proposed two alleged willful and four alleged serious citations for Tri-State Scaffolding, with a proposed penalty of $146,600, for erection of a scaffold that violated scaffold safety rules; for erecting a scaffold not designed by a professional engineer; and other violations of scaffolding and worker protection rules. Serious citations, with a proposed penalty of $9,750, have been proposed for New Millennium Restoration, including failure to train employees on various hazards, failure to require personal protective equipment, and other violations of safety and health protections. Serious citations with a proposed penalty of $3,000 have also been proposed against Nesa, Inc., for not providing falling object protection and failure to brace scaffold frames.
OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. A serious violation is one where there is a substantial probability that death or serious harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
