Fatal Fall Brings $250,000 in Civil and Criminal Penalties

Friday, July 27, 2018 | 0

A federal judge has ordered a Dallas construction company to pay $250,000 in civil and criminal penalties for occupational safety law violations after the death of an employee who fell during construction of an apartment complex.

U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered Design Plastering West LLC to pay a $150,000 criminal fine and a $100,000 civil penalty, admit eight willful violations of safety laws and undergo monitoring by the U.S. Occupational and Safety Administration for four years, OSHA said.

The worker fell from a third-floor balcony on May 14, 2015, while applying stucco without fall protection, OSHA said. The agency cited Design Plastering for willfully failing to install scaffolding and provide workers with personal full protection. Design Plastering West Pleaded guilty to the willful citation on fall protection in May.

“This company failed to comply with well-known safety requirements,” stated OSHA’s Dallas Region Acting Regional Administrator Eric Harbin. “This sentence should serve as a reminder that employers can be held criminally responsible for failing to protect their workers’ safety.”