OSHA finds workplace violations at a Mechanicsburg work site
The agency also released information about 21 recent workplace fatalities in southcentral Pennsylvania.
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Gabriela Martínez/WITF
VD Construction Services, a residential framing contractor from Hyattsville, Maryland, faces $87,429 in penalties for six workplace violations at a Mechanicsburg work site.
After an inspection in February, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleged the company did not provide proper fall protection for its workers and that it had set up and used extension ladders unsafely. They also cited a lack of eye protection for workers using nail guns.
The company has 15 days to respond to the citations. It could enter informal settlement negotiations – which would involve taking action to address the safety issues – or decide to challenge the citations in court.
With the recent violations from the Mechanicsburg site, the company now has 142 violations, including 136 violations the company had accrued over the course of two years in Maryland. Those violations included lack of fall protection and failure to provide other safety equipment.
“VD Construction Services is putting workers’ lives in jeopardy by continuing to ignore its legal responsibility to provide a safe work environment,” said Kevin Chambers, OSHA director in the agency’s Harrisburg office. “Falls from elevation cause more than a third of all construction-related deaths. These incidents can be prevented – and lives saved – by using required fall protection equipment.”
No incidents, injuries or deaths were reported at VD Construction Services’ Mechanicsburg site.
The company could not be reached for comment.
Overall, the agency reports that since October 2021 in south central Pennsylvania there have been 21 workplace fatalities in the 14 counties overseen by Harrisburg’s OSHA office. Last fiscal year, there were 16 deaths.
The agency is still investigating the recent death of Jose Rojas-Flores, 53, of Harrisburg, who died in a chicken barn collapse in Adams County late July.
“There are many, many more people that die on the job, but there are situations where we do not have coverage,” Chambers said. “For example, in Pennsylvania, we’re what’s known as a federal OSHA state, which means we only have jurisdictional cover over federal employees and private sector workers.”
OSHA does not have coverage over state employees.
Chambers says OSHA is asking all south central Pennsylvania employees to take the time to evaluate their workplace safety and health programs and fix any potential hazards.
The agency’s announcement about workplace fatalities in the region coincides with OSHA’s “Safe + Sound Week” — an annual event that teaches businesses about workplace safety and health. There are 50 Pennsylvania businesses participating in the event, according to OSHA.
Gabriela Martínez is part of the “Report for America” program — a national service effort that places journalists in newsrooms across the country to report on under-covered topics and communities.
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