POUGHKEEPSIE – The US Department
of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited
Onekey LLC, a New Jersey-based construction management and development
company, with $281,583 in proposed penalties in connection with a fatal
incident at a Poughkeepsie construction site.
A stone retaining wall collapsed on August 3, 2017. The collapse led to the death of an employee of New Generations Masonry, a Connecticut-based subcontractor and injury to another employee.
Safety features and procedures not in place, says OSHA
OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said a number of safety features were not in place.
“What OSHA found was that the company did not design or have the retaining wall approved by a registered engineer as required,” Fitzgerald said. “It also failed to train the employees to keep a safe distance from the wall and it also failed to provide proper fall protection to employees who were working in heights when they were working on the wall.”
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to
comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director,
or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health
Review Commission.
