Scaffolding in Glen Cove, NY

      The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Exterior Stucco Systems Inc. of Wayne, New Jersey with five repeat violations involving fall hazards related to the improper construction of scaffolding on a Staten Island, New York worksite.  Proposed penalties total $61,600. 
     OSHA initiated the inspection of the site on Sept. 1 as part of a local emphasis program focused on fall hazards in construction.  As a result, the company received citations for failing to maintain a safety program, not fully planking scaffold platforms, not providing a ladder for safe scaffold access, not removing and replacing damaged scaffold components, and not properly braceing scaffolds with cross braces.
     A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Due to the number of repeat violations cited, the company has been added to the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP).
     Initiated in June 2010, SVEP is intended to focus OSHA enforcement resources on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe; industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards; employee exposure to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals; and all egregious enforcement actions. For more information on SVEP, visit http://www.osha.gov/dep/svep-directive.pdf.

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