Concord Contractors Fined By OSHA for Safety Violations That Resulted In Death

Concord, New Hampshire (WorkersCompensation.com)- A local contractor was cited by OSHA for over $40,000 in fines for numerous safety violations following the death of a Concord employee last year.

After the death of 51-year-old Kenneth McKenna, who worked for the family-owned company for over two decades, OSHA opened up an investigation into Craigue & Sons Home Exterior last August.

On the morning of August 28, 2018, McKenna had been replacing the skidding on the street side of a commercial building. Police say that he fell 30 feet from the roof of this two-story building and ended up landing on a concrete-like surface. He was rushed to the hospital and died.

According to the Citation and Notification Of Penalty obtained by WorkersCompensation.com, OSHA issued the company citations for the following violations: 

• Failing to provide fall protection training to employees for both two wings of the job site, as well as ensuring that workers understood the hazards of falling and the means necessary to minimize or eliminate these hazards
• The ladder that was used by workers to access the roof had not been inspected by a competent person for damage or defects, and it had, indeed, been damaged and should not have been used
• Having an employee working/walking on surfaces that were not protected on the sides or edge with a guardrail or any kind of safety net systems or personal fall arrest systems, which did result in an employee being injured
• Failing to report an in-patient hospitalization (that of Kenneth McKenna) amputation or loss of an eye as a result of the work-related incident to OSHA within 24 hours.

OSHA investigators found that the ladder had been installed on a roof bracket scaffolding system and had been used to boost the worker’s working height, which OSHA states is not allowed except on large area scaffolds. WorkersCompensation.com has reached out to the agency, but they would not comment on this ongoing case.

Since Craigue & Sons are contesting the fines that total $40,279, an administrative law judge will now oversee the litigation process from here on out.  If both sides are unable to resolve the case, there will only be a formal settlement, and no hearing will take place.

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