WASHINGTON-The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it plans to fine Clear Communications Group $120,000 for willful and repeated violations of federal workplace safety regulations.
“The failure to provide adequate fall protection is one of the most common and most preventable causes of injuries in the workplace,” said OSHA Administrator Charles Jeffress.
Clear Communications Group, a telecom engineering and tower construction firm in Atlanta, did not return calls for comment. Some of its customers include AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, Nortel, Motorola Inc., Nextel Communications Inc., Adelphia Business Solutions and Carolina PCS.
The proposed OSHA fine is based on an inspection by its Cincinnati area office at a telecommunications tower under construction near Georgetown, Ohio.
The report by OSHA, a unit of the Labor Department, follows a government report issued earlier this year that said tower firms may neither be aware of the significant risks of fatal falls nor the federal regulations designed to prevent accidents.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety of Health, a scientific governmental body that advises OSHA, released the study after a slew of tower-related deaths and injuries in recent years.
NIOSH said tower workers sustain fatal injuries-primarily from falls-at a substantially higher rate that workers in other U.S. industries.
The report’s findings raise a red flag just as the industry prepares for another wave of tower construction, a development triggered by coming spectrum auctions and the creation of third-generation mobile phone systems.
The National Association of Tower Erectors complained to Jeffress about the NIOSH report, claiming the study understated significant progress industry has made to improve safety.
“One third of all fatalities in the construction industry are caused by falls, which makes it particularly disturbing that on two separate occasions this company allowed its workers to climb the tower without protection. Clear Communications is well aware of its obligations to protect workers; there is simply no excuse for its failure to do so,” said Jeffress.
According to OSHA, government inspectors at the tower site initially found workers climbing 50 feet or more and traversing the tower without the use of fall protection. In a follow-up visit, OSHA inspectors again witnessed tower climbers-this time at heights above 150 feet without utilizing fall protection.
William Murphy, area director for the Cincinnati OSHA office, said one willful citation was issued to Clear Communications for the firm’s failure to provide and ensure the use of adequate fall protection. Two repeat violations were later issued to Clear Communications because it did not ensure that employees were trained on fall protection procedures.
OSHA said Clear Communications also received an `other-than-serious’ violation for not providing and requiring the use of appropriate personal protective equipment and adequate head protection.
Clear Communications has 15 working days from the receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to either comply with them, request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director or contest the violations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
