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Six contractors working at the Horseshoe Casino site in Cincinnati are facing fines from the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after an inspection spurred by a construction accident in January. More than 12 workers were injured after a structure collapsed. Messer Construction Co., a construction management contractor, was among those cited for safety violations.
Many of the violations were classified as serious, but none were determined to be willful. OSHA issued a total of 23 serious violations. The other contractors are J&B Steel Erectors, Inc., Pendleton Construction Group LLC., D.A.G. Construction Co., LLC, TriVersity Construction Co. LLC and Jostin Construction, Inc. OSHA claimed that all six of these contractors “failed to determine if the walking/working surfaces on which its employees were to work had the strength and structural integrity to support employees safely.” Proposed fines total $108,220.
“These are elite companies with an excellent safety record,” Regional OSHA William Wilkerson told the Cincinnati Enquirer. The OSHA inspection did not determine exactly what caused the collapse, which may be why the fines were issued to all contractors.
“We are cooperating fully with OSHA as we have throughout the investigation,” said Tim Keckeis, Messer CEO. “There are elements of the citation with which we respectfully disagree, and Messer and our partners will be requesting an informal meeting with OSHA’s area director.”
Messer and the other contractors have 15 working days to pay the fines or request a hearing.
Larrimer & Larrimer, LLC—Columbus workers comp attorneys.