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

cited Force Corp for five safety and health violations, including one willful violation and four

serious safety and health violations. They come in response to an inspection of a worksite in

Andover, MA in July of 2015. This inspection was initiated as part of the agency’s ongoing Fall

Prevention Campaign, which began in 2012 and was deployed in an effort to protect employees

from fall hazards. The citations are for violations relating to a lack of fall protection, use of

ladders which did not extend at least three feet above the upper landings for required stability,

damaged and uninspected safety harnesses, and a safety lanyard which was too long to prevent

employees from falling. These violations carry proposed penalties of $91,000.

“This was an imminent danger situation. These employees were one slip, trip or misstep away

from a deadly or disabling fall. We began an inspection immediately,” said Anthony Covello,

OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. “Even after the employees donned fall

protection equipment, it was defective and inadequate at preventing falls. Force Corp.’s disregard

of this safety requirement placed its employees at risk needlessly. This is unacceptable behavior

that must change before a worker’s life or career is destroyed.”

If you have any questions about your own company’s occupational safety and health policies and

procedures, please contact us. If you have anything to add about this inspection and the related

findings, please leave a comment.