Dive Brief:

• Philadelphia-based Quick Carpentry faces $105,631 in fines after Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors found fall-hazard and related training violations at a job site in Robbinsville, NJ.

• The company was issued two repeat and seven serious violations for using damaged ladders, the prevalence of struck-by hazards, employees not wearing hard hats and a lack of frequent site inspections.

• Workers were exposed to falls from heights of up to 12 feet while installing roof trusses at the residential development, according to OSHA.

Dive Insight:

This is just the latest in OSHA’s crackdown on fall-protection violations. Earlier this month, Construction Dive reported on the top 10 construction-related violations, with fall hazards topping the list. Falls are the leading cause of death in construction accidents, accounting for 359 of 899 construction deaths in 2014.

Recently, OSHA raised its maximum civil penalties by 78% to keep rate increases in line with inflation and "level the playing field" for companies that mind workplace safety, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez said in a statement.

The inspection of Quick Carpentry occurred under the agency’s Local Emphasis Program for fall-protection, which targets sites where such hazards are likely for additional scrutiny. Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA's Marlton (NJ) Area Office, said the company’s "total disregard for safety on all of these issues jeopardizes its employees needlessly, and will not be tolerated."

OSHA cited the company for similar violations in February. In the past few months, construction firms large and small from Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and elsewhere have been issued fall-protection-related citations and fines from OSHA.