The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing penalties against BB Frame LLC, operating as Frame Q and as Owner and Principal Juan Quevedo, for exposing workers to multiple safety hazards at four Bergen County, N.J., worksites.
OSHA conducted five investigations beginning in December 2019 of the Palisades Park, N.J.-based framing contractor and is proposing $1,997,125 in penalties.
In February 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed a lawsuit alleging Frame Q failed to pay the Department of the Treasury more than $678,053 in civil penalties and delinquency fees.
OSHA had levied the underlying fines between 2013 and 2017 for dozens of violations, including lack of fall protection and ladder safety. Shortly after the DOJ filed suit, Quevedo dissolved Frame Q LLC but continued doing business as Frame Q while using the BB Frame corporate entity.
In December 2019, OSHA conducted a complaint investigation at a worksite in Cliffside Park, N.J., and cited the company for nine safety violations and a $520,860 proposed penalty. OSHA conducted another investigation in Fort Lee, N.J., and cited the company for five citations with a proposed penalty of $426,785.
In January 2020, as part of OSHA’s local emphasis program for fall hazards, the agency opened an investigation at a different location in Cliffside Park. It resulted in five safety citations with a $405,588 proposed penalty.
OSHA completed two additional investigations in February 2020 at a Palisades Park, N.J., site. The agency initiated one as part of the local emphasis program for fall hazards and issued three citations with a proposed penalty of $274,892. The other investigation, initiated in response to a complaint, resulted in eight violations and a $369,000 proposed penalty.
“This employer’s extensive history of egregious disregard for the safety of workers will not be tolerated,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson in New York in a U.S. Department of Labor press release. “Employers are required by law to provide workers with safe and healthful workplaces.”
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
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