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OSHA Standards for the Construction Industry as of August 2009 
This book contains the occupational safety and health standards for the construction industry promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), effective July 1, 2009.
OSHA has proposed $150,000 in fines against Fru-Con Construction Corp. following the company's most recent violations of federal safety regulations that resulted in a fatal fall for one employee.
OSHA opened its latest inspection at the Maumee River Bridge construction project after learning that scaffolding had broken free from the bridge, causing a carpenter to fall approximately 80 feet to his death. OSHA subsequently issued two willful violations of federal workplace safety regulations, with the maximum total penalty of $140,000, and two serious citations, with proposed penalties totaling $10,000.
The willful citations allege that the company failed to have a competent person inspect the scaffold each time it was moved and re-erected and to ensure fall protection was used by employees when climbing over the parapet wall to gain access to the scaffold platform.
The serious citations allege that Fru-Con failed to construct the scaffold in accordance with the manufacturer's design and to properly train employees responsible for erecting, disassembling and moving the scaffold.
Pointing out that construction projects hold the potential for being inherently dangerous places for employees, Jule Hovi, OSHA's area director in Toledo, said, "Injuries, illnesses and fatalities can be prevented if employers follow federal safety and health guidelines. When employers ignore these standards and regulations, working men and women are needlessly put at risk. In this case, a man paid with his life."
OSHA had inspected the Maumee River Crossing Project seven previous times since 2002, resulting in 13 citations, including four egregious willful citations issued in 2004 after Fru-Con failed to follow manufacturer specifications when operating a self-launching gantry crane. The crane collapsed, fatally injuring four iron workers and hospitalizing four others.
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