Dive Brief:

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Georgia contractor JA Siding Construction Services for a variety of safety violations and fined the company $65,120, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. 
• OSHA said the Atlanta-based contractor did not provide adequate fall protection for its workers and failed to properly secure scaffold while personnel worked at heights of 28 feet to 32 feet.
• In addition, OSHA said that JA Siding failed to provide protective eyewear to workers using nail guns. According to OSHA, the agency had previously cited JA Siding for this same violation in 2014.

Dive Insight:

"Falls are the leading cause of death in construction and JA Siding is blatantly disregarding the safety and health of its workers by not providing fall protection and not ensuring the scaffolding is properly secured," Christi Griffin, director of OSHA's Atlanta-West Area Office, said in a statement. "These hazards cannot continue to go unchecked, and management must make immediate changes."

This year has seen a steady stream of scaffold and fall protection violations resulting in large OSHA fines. OSHA cited and fined contractors in North Dakota and Wisconsin for violations, as well as companies in New York and Arizona for violations resulting in worker deaths. There has also been increased scrutiny recently of increasing immigrant jobsite injuries and deaths.

In August 2016, OSHA will likely raise its fine levels approximately 80% to be consistent with the Consumer Price Index — the first increase since 1990.