Region 4 News Release: 13-1919-ATL (247)
Sept. 19, 2013
Contact: Michael D'Aquino Lindsay Williams
Phone: 404-562-2076 404-562-2078
Email: d'aquino.michael@dol.gov williams.lindsay.l@dol.gov

US Department of Labor's OSHA cites Alabama's Marcus Borden for fall
hazards and other violations after injuries to 3 workers at Cordova, Ala., site

CORDOVA, Ala. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited steel erection and roofing contractor Marcus Borden for six safety violations, some involving fall hazards, following the hospitalization of three workers for injuries suffered while performing roof work in Cordova. The contractor is based in Russellville.

In March, a gust of wind during a severe thunderstorm ripped a large piece of metal decking from the workers' hands. One worker was thrown against the edge of a new metal roof and suffered a left arm amputation; a second worker was thrown across the roof and suffered an injured shoulder. A third worker became wrapped in a sheet of metal, managed to escape, but was carried by the momentum over the roof's edge and fell 30 feet to the ground. The worker broke wrists, ribs, a tail bone and a pelvis.

A willful violation has been cited for failing to provide workers with fall protection while working within 6 feet of an open edge that was 30 feet above the ground. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Four serious violations involve exposing workers to severe weather conditions and struck-by hazards during severe weather conditions; not ensuring use of fall protection when riding an aerial lift basket from the ground to the roof; overloading the aerial lift's posted weight limit; and not securing metal decking during inclement weather conditions. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

An other-than-serious violation relates to the employer failing to notify OSHA about the workers being admitted to the hospital due to a work-related incident. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

"Marcus Borden did not provide fall protection, even after an employee request and after indicating prior to roofing work that it would protect workers from fall hazards," said Ramona Morris, OSHA's area director in Birmingham. "Employers are responsible for providing workers with proper protection to perform jobs safely."

OSHA has created a Stop Falls Web page at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls with detailed information in English and Spanish on fall protection standards. The page offers fact sheets, posters and videos that vividly illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures.

Proposed penalties total $69,200. Marcus Borden has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director in Birmingham, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Birmingham office at 205-731-1564.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 216-893-7828 or TTY 216-893-7755.