OSHA Issues $235K in Fines for Boston Construction Site Hazards

OSHA has fined a Massachusetts restoration and masonry contractor $235,000 for exposing workers to fall, scaffolding and other hazards at a work site on Boston’s Rowes Wharf.

The federal safety agency said employees of NER Construction Management Inc., of Wilmington, Mass. were exposed to falls of up to 17 feet due to a lack of fall protection while power washing the side of a building and while dismantling scaffolding. The firm also failed to fully plank the scaffolding from which the employee performed the power washing.

“A fatal or disabling fall can end a life or a career in seconds,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. “Scaffolding is an essential tool – and fall protection a basic and required safeguard – for this type of work. There’s no reason for an employer’s failure to have proper and effective protections in place and in use at all times at all job sites.”