Linden contractor agrees to pay $13.5k fine for failing to prevent fatal fall in Bayonne

A Linden contractor has agreed to pay a $13,500 fine for failing to prevent a fatal fall in Bayonne at a worksite back in October, the U.S. Department of Labor said this afternoon.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“While this settlement cannot reverse the preventable loss of life, it goes a long way to ensure that Granite & Marble Services LLC will abate hazards and implement safety measures to stop another tragedy,” OSHA Area Director Joseph Czapik said in a statement.

“Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, which is why industry employers must protect their workers from clearly deadly hazards to ensure a safe workplace.”

The settlement followed an inspection by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration of Granite & Marble Services LLC of Linden after the Bayonne Police Department alerted the agency that a worker had suffered fatal injuries at a multi-unit residential building under construction.

OSHA inspectors determined a 39-year-old worker had stepped onto an elevated platform to unload materials and fell from the building’s fifth level. The agency found that the employer did not secure the work platform fully to prevent it from tipping or from being dislodged from a telehandler’s forks.

Granite & Marble Services also failed to provide legally required fall protection and used the work platform without the prior written approval from the telehandler’s manufacturer. The agency cited the contractor with four serious violations.

After receiving its citations on April 25, 2024, the company requested an informal conference with OSHA’s area director and reached the settlement agreement with the agency.

The agreement affirms Granite & Marble Services LLC’s four serious violations, and requires the company to pay a $13,500 penalty, implement further enhanced abatement measures and develop a safety program and fall protection plan.

As part of its fatality investigation, OSHA also initiated an inspection of ARC NJ LLC, operating as ARC Building Partners LLC and the general contractor at the Bayonne construction site.

OSHA cited the company for two serious violations for its failures to ensure the platform was secured to the forklift and for not getting the manufacturer’s written approval before attaching the working platform to the telehandler. Proposed penalties total $22,584.

The company has submitted a notice of contest to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 1,069 construction workers died on the job, including 395 related to falls from elevation, officials said.