Region 5 News Release: 11-1687-CHI
Nov. 29, 2011
Contact: Scott Allen Rhonda Burke
Phone: 312-353-6976 312-353-4807
Email: allen.scott@dol.gov burke.rhonda@dol.gov

US Department of Labor's OSHA cites Igor Jerema Construction in
Buffalo Grove, Ill., for safety violations after worker dies from scaffold fall

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Igor Jerema Construction Co. in Buffalo Grove for four willful safety violations after a worker applying stucco at a home under construction in Burr Ridge fell off a scaffold and sustained a fatal head injury in May.

"Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry and failing to ensure workers use fall protection when required is unacceptable," said Gary Anderson, director of OSHA's Calumet City Area Office. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."

Igor Jerema Construction has been cited for failing to provide fall protection for employees working from scaffolding at levels more than 10 feet high, erect scaffold supports on a firm foundation, provide a ladder as a point of access for workers on the scaffold and fully plank platforms on working levels of the scaffold. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Detailed information about fall hazards and safeguards is available on OSHA's website at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/construction.html. Detailed information on scaffold hazards and safe work practices, including an interactive e-Tool, is available at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/scaffolding/index.html.

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 Calumet City office at 708-891-3800.

Proposed penalties against Igor Jerema Construction total $50,000. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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.

###

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.