PERRYSBURG, Ohio — An Indiana contractor faces nearly $200,000 in fines after the U.S. Department of Labor said employees were exposed to deadly risks of falls while working on framing at two homes in Perrysburg.
Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said they observed employees of MDM & Sons Construction LLC working on residential roofs up to 13 feet high without proper fall protection on May 1 and May 14 of this year. The homes under construction were on Brampton Park Road and Old Dover Road in Perrysburg.
The Department of Labor said OSHA issued four violations to the Woodburn, Ind., company for exposing workers to fall hazards, lacking fall protection training and not developing an accident prevention program.
OSHA inspectors said the company failed to provide eye protection for workers using nail guns. They also issued citations for six "serious" violations for failing to train workers to operate powered industrial trucks safely, exposing employees to ladder and electric hazards and lacking handrails on stairs.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the findings in these inspections are similar to those for which OSHA cited the company in 2021, which included two "willful" and six "serious" violations.
“MDM & Sons Construction continues its dangerous pattern of exposing its employees to the risk of serious injuries and death related to falls from elevation, the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry,” said Todd Jensen, OSHA area director in Toledo. “Federal law requires employers to provide and ensure the use of proper fall protection whenever people work at heights six feet or greater. If MDM & Sons Construction continues to ignore its legal responsibility to protect its workers’ safety, it may only be a matter of time before disaster strikes and an employee’s life is forever changed or ended. The company must act now.”
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, MDM & Sons Construction faces $199,761 in proposed penalties and has also been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
