Edgewood construction company fined over $200,000 for workplace safety breaches
An Edgewood construction company faces four workplace safety violations and $258,514 in fines after multiple inspections, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries shared in a press release.
Modern S Construction LLC has been inspected six times over the last three years and cited for not protecting its workers from falls, the release read.
Two of the violations are classified as willful serious, meaning the employer knowingly failed to comply with the legal requirement and the hazards would likely have resulted in death or physical harm.
The first of those violations, with the largest penalty of $165,514, occurred on March 17 last year when an employee was observed performing work above 11 feet without a guardrail, safety attendant or any other adequate protective system.
This violation was corrected during the inspection, the release said.
The second willful serious violation states that the company did not ensure a written Fall Protection Work Plan was available on site for inspection. Without this, fall hazards may not be identified and employees may not be aware of site-specific protection requirements, the release said.
The penalty for this citation is $91,800.
The other two violations are classified as repeat general, meaning the employers has been cited one or more times for similar violations in the past.
One of those violations states that the company did not provide safety meetings for review when requested, and is penalized with a $960 fine.
The second repeated violation occurred when an inspection found that four employees were doing construction work without a person in charge who has valid first-aid certification, which is penalized by a $240 fine.
The company did not appeal the most recent citation and fine.
Modern S Construction LLC, along with several other Washington construction companies, are a part of the Labor and Industries Severe Violators Enforcement Program.
Employers in this program are subject to increased scrutiny and mandatory follow-up inspections.
For 20 years in a row, falls from heights are the most cited serious workplace safety violation in Washington, the release read.
