The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has

cited Vyacheslav Leshko, doing business as T and S Masonry, LLC for 13 safety and health

violations. These violations include eight repeat and five serious safety violations. They come in

response to observations performed by inspectors on two separate construction site visits in May

of 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. These violations carry proposed penalties of $174,240.

“T and S Masonry is taking unnecessary chances with worker safety by not providing fall

protection for bricklayers working at heights ranging from 25 to 30 feet,” said Nicholas DeJesse,

director of OSHA’s Philadelphia Area Office. “A fall at these heights would result in permanent

disability or death.”

The majority of these violations related to a lack of fall protection and other scaffolding safety

hazards, including a lack of training. The remaining five serious violations were for a lack of a

safety and health program and multiple hazards, including the use of corrosive cement without

providing proper personal protective equipment.

We have been seeing more and more inspections of work sites carrying large fines over the last

few months. Construction work site safety, specifically relating to fall hazards, has become a

main focus for OSHA. If you are in the construction industry, it is imperative to have a safety

and health program which fully documents your fall hazard prevention steps. If you do not

currently have this in place or fear it is inadequate, please look into working with a third party

occupational safety and health auditing firm to assist you in updating your procedures.

If you have any questions about this case or how you might need to reposition yourself if you are

in the construction business to be prepared for OSHA, please contact us. If you have anything

to add about the changing auditing environment for construction companies, please leave a

comment.