In 2024’s final quarter, some of the largest OSHA citations issued to construction firms stemmed from two of the most well-identified hazards: falls and trench cave-ins.
The agency has national emphasis programs for those standards, as they are some of the deadliest and most easily identified perils on a jobsite.
OSHA publicizes instances in which it issues large fines, as a means of showing its regulatory power and calling attention to violations. In the fourth quarter of last year, the agency highlighted several employers facing hefty penalties across multiple jobsites and inspections.
In construction, these cases often involve residential builders committing repeat violations, which carry a larger initial penalty. The original fine amounts are sometimes negotiated down in settlement, so they do not always represent the amount paid. Cases where firms have settled the initial amounts already have been noted here.
RRC Home Improvement
Initial fines: $328,545 (across three inspections)
Status: Contested
Federal OSHA safety officials have levied nearly $330,000 in initial fines against a Newark, New Jersey-based roofing contractor after three inspections in the summer of 2024 allegedly discovered that workers were exposed to falls.
In June, OSHA said inspectors on a Dover, Delaware, jobsite received reports of employees of RRC Home Improvement working on a roof without fall protection. A month after warning the company, OSHA opened inspections at two worksites in Lodi, New Jersey, in July. Those inspections were part of the agency’s national emphasis program for falls in construction.
The agency alleges it again observed employees working without required fall protection, as well as a lack of hard hats, eye protection and fire extinguishers in addition to non-compliant pump jack scaffold poles and unsafe ladder use.
OSHA said it has cited the company for failing to provide workers with fall protection in five different inspections since 2017 and added RRC Home Improvement to the Severe Violators Enforcement Program. After the inspections, OSHA issued four willful and seven serious violations in December, totaling $328,545 in initial penalties. RRC Home Improvement is contesting all of the fines.
RRC Home Improvement did not respond to requests for comment.
Fino Exterior Inc.
Initial fines: $302,935 (across four inspections)
Status: Contested
OSHA inspectors allegedly observed employees of a Lake Zurich, Illinois-based roofing contractor working on top of residential structures without legally required fall protection on four occasions in 2024.
On Feb 6., June 12, Aug. 16 and Oct. 16 of last year, OSHA says it inspected Fino Exterior Inc. employees working without protections on four different Illinois jobsites. OSHA says federal inspectors have cited the contractor eight times since 2020 and that it currently is liable for $65,115 in unpaid OSHA penalties.
OSHA cited the company for the February offense in March, and for the other three occasions in December. Fino Exterior faces citations for 13 safety violations and a proposed $302,935 in penalties. The company is contesting the fines.
In addition to a lack of fall protection, OSHA cited Fino Exterior for:
- Permitting employees to work near energized power lines.
- Not providing employees with hard hats.
- Failing to train workers in fall protection hazards and prevention.
- Lack of eye protection for workers operating pneumatic nail guns.
- Improper use of ladders.
The company has no publicly available contact info, and could not be reached for comment.
595 Construction
Initial fines: $287,465 (across three inspections)
Status: Contested
OSHA has cited a framing contractor $287,465 after it allegedly observed workers exposed to fall hazards without proper protection three times at three residential jobsites in the same neighborhood in the same month.
The agency says inspectors first observed Crystal Lake, Illinois-based 595 Construction employees at work without required equipment on two residential buildings on May 10 and again on May 31.
As a result, OSHA cited the company for allowing employees to work without fall protection at heights greater than 6 feet and failing to certify they trained workers to recognize hazards or prevent falls. OSHA also claims 595 Construction permitted unsafe use of ladders, failed to ensure workers had certification to operate industrial vehicles and used damaged slings to hoist materials.
In November, 595 Construction received one willful violation, four repeat violations and three serious violations across three different inspections. 595 Construction faced similar citations for serious and repeat safety failures in 2022 and 2023.
595 Construction is contesting the fines. The company has no publicly available contact info, and could not be reached for comment.
Aleckssandro Tomaz Pereira
Initial fines: $283,116
Status: Issued
A federal OSHA investigation allegedly has found the operator of three Massachusetts waterproofing contracting companies could have prevented an employee from dying in February 2024.
OSHA claims Aleckssandro Tomaz Pereira — operating as Boston Concrete Corp, VMT Contractor and Boston Concrete and Remodeling — exposed workers to cave-in, caught-between and structural collapse hazards by failing to reinforce a trench and building foundation against collapse.
On Feb. 7, 2024, OSHA said, an employee was digging in a trench around an existing residential structure in Hanson, Massachusetts, when the foundation wall collapsed and killed the employee. OSHA says its investigators determined the employer instructed the worker to enter the trench to prepare a foundation wall for waterproofing and dig out an area under the wall to install concrete footings.
In addition, the agency said Pereira failed to:
- Ensure the employee did not dig beneath the unsupported foundation wall’s base.
- Train employees to recognize and avoid cave-in hazards.
- Train employees on operating an excavator and recognizing associated hazards.
- Provide a safe means of exiting the trench.
- Prevent water from accumulating in the trench.
As a result, Pereira faces two willful and six serious violations, totaling $283,116 in initial fines issued in November.
Construction Dive called a publicly available number listed for Boston Concrete Corp, but received word that the number was no longer in service.
Miguel A. Esquina Reyes
Initial fines: $266,175
Status: Issued
Federal OSHA inspectors have cited a Zion, Illinois-based roofing contractor for allegedly exposing workers to fall hazards. OSHA claims Miguel A. Esquina Reyes has “an extensive history of endangering workers by exposing them to fall hazards.”
An August 2024 inspection of a Glencoe, Illinois, worksite allegedly found employees of Reyes — operating as Corner Construction Corp. — working without the legally required fall protection. OSHA said it was the second such incident in six months and the fifth in two years.
As a result, OSHA cited the company for allowing employees to work at heights of greater than 6 feet without protection and the unsafe use of ladders. In December, OSHA handed Reyes three violations — one willful, one repeat and one serious — totaling $266,175 in proposed penalties.
The company has no publicly available contact info and could not be reached for comment.
Masci General Contractor Inc.
Initial fines: $216,633
Status: Contested
On May 28, 2024, safety inspectors with OSHA allegedly viewed workers employed by Port Orange, Florida-based sewer line contractor Masci General Contractor Inc. installing a sewer line in an unsafe trench.
OSHA inspectors initiated the removal of the employees from the 6-foot-deep, 40-foot-long trench in Daytona Beach, Florida. The agency then cited Masci in November for willfully endangering workers by failing to provide essential cave-in protection, such as shoring or trench boxes.
As a result, the contractor faces $216,633 in initial penalties from five serious and one willful violation. The firm is contesting the fines.
Masci did not respond to requests for comment.
K T Carter Contracting Inc.
Initial fines: $146,803
Status: Informal settlement ($95,000)
Inspectors say they viewed workers from K T Carter Contracting Inc. in a 12-foot-deep trench without cave-in protection in Jacksonville, Florida.
OSHA initiated the removal of workers employed by the Jacksonville-based civil contractor. The agency levied two serious and one willful violation for the instance, totaling $146,803 in initial fines in November. The two parties reached an informal settlement, according to OSHA’s database, for $95,000.
K T Carter Contracting did not respond to requests for comment.
Patriot Paving Group
Initial fines: $161,325
Status: Formal settlement ($57,600)
A federal investigation into a June 2024 death at a Brownville, Maine, worksite resulted in initial fines for a Glenburn, Maine-based general contractor.
OSHA claims Patriot Paving Group ignored an onsite expert’s repeated warnings and its own site-specific plan for the project, which ultimately saw an unbraced retaining wall collapse and kill a worker.
OSHA determined two employees of Patriot Paving Group were installing storm drainage pipes in a roughly 3-foot-deep trench. At the same time, the company owner used an excavator near the retaining wall’s base, which destabilized it, causing the 40- to 60-foot-long section of the wall to tip over. One worker escaped, but the other died.
Investigators determined the company knew the wall was unstable but did not use necessary protective systems. As a result of the investigation, OSHA cited the company for five willful violations in December.
The two parties have reached a formal settlement for $57,600, per OSHA’s database.
Patriot Paving did not respond to requests for comment.
Bandera Utility Contractors
Initial fines: $107,228
Status: Informal settlement ($72,092)
An OSHA investigation allegedly found a Frisco, Texas-based contractor repeatedly exposed workers to serious hazards by allowing them to work in unprotected trenches without providing a safe means to escape.
In response to a formal complaint, OSHA officers observed employees of Bandera Utility Contractors working on water and sewer lines in a trench with inadequate protection. In addition, OSHA inspectors allegedly noted that the company failed to provide employees with basic safety measures, such as ladders in the trench and a means to escape in the event of a collapse.
OSHA also said it cited Bandera Utility Contractors in 2022 for four serious violations of similar regulations after an employee died in a trench collapse.
As a result, OSHA cited the company, issuing three serious and two repeat violations in December. The two parties reached an informal settlement for $72,092, according to OSHA’s database.
Bandera Utility Contractors did not respond to requests for comment.
