OSHA Fines 6 NY-NJ Contractors $648K Over Excavation Hazards
Federal inspectors found a nearly 75-foot unstable embankment unprotected at a Monroe, NY mixed-use development, triggering 28 citations.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited six construction employers and proposed $648,094 in combined penalties following an inspection of a large excavation site in Monroe, New York, where workers faced life-threatening cave-in and struck-by hazards.
OSHA investigators responded to an allegation of unsafe conditions at the Monroe Commons project — also known as the Magna Square development — a planned four-story, roughly 408,000-square-foot mixed-use building featuring retail space, offices, and a 39-room hotel on an 18-acre site. Inspectors found a steep, unstable embankment nearly 75 feet high that had not been adequately sloped or shored, exposing workers to potential collapse.
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The agency issued 23 serious and five willful citations to general contractor Advanced Plan and Build LLC and five subcontractors. Willful violations — the most severe classification — were assessed against Advanced Plan and Build, Parkstone Inc., Obstacle Systems Inc. (operating as Drip Drop Waterproofing Inc.), and The Paving Masters LLC for failing to protect employees from cave-in and struck-by hazards. Advanced Plan and Build and The Paving Masters also received willful citations for not having a registered professional engineer design an excavation ranging from 21 to 75 feet deep. Subcontractors Century Max Industries Corp., DelValle Contractor, and Prime Structure Inc. drew serious violations for related cave-in and fall-protection failures.
The largest individual penalties proposed were $198,615 against Parkstone Inc. and Obstacle Systems Inc., $188,684 against The Paving Masters LLC, and $175,444 against Advanced Plan and Build LLC. Each cited employer has 15 business days from receipt of their citations to pay, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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