A Miami company is fighting $40,000 in proposed OSHA fines after Kendall husband’s death
An Opa-locka company has contested the citations and proposed fines of $40,937 after an OSHA investigation into a Kendall man’s electrocution.
Jorge Felix Hernandez Jr. was 32 when he died.
Hernandez also was an employee of Concurrent Group, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited for what happened on Jan. 4 as Concurrent did work for FPL at Southwest 107th Avenue and 162nd Terrace.
“An employee was preparing to unload a trailer of materials hitched to the digger derrick truck that was parked directly below overhead power lines,” OSHA’s online summary stated. “While raising the boom of the truck, the boom arm contacted the 7.620 KV overhead power lines.”
“The employee was electrocuted and died.”
READ MORE: FPL contract worker dead after electrocution in South Miami-Dade
OSHA’s June 30 Citation and Notification of Penalty lists five violations, all classified as Serious. Fines were proposed for only three alleged workplace safety violations that OSHA says exposed Hernandez to the hazard that killed him.
Hernandez was allowed to operate “a digger derrick truck within the minimum approach distance to energized 7,620-volt overhead power lines while those lines were not insulated.”
▪ Concurrent “failed to ensure that an observer was designated to observe and warn the employee working near energized and uninsulated 7,620-volt overhead powerlines before the minimum approach distance was reached.”
▪ Concurrent “did not ensure that grounding of the equipment and insulating protective equipment was utilized before employees began working near an energized and uninsulated 7,620-volt overhead power line.”
▪ Concurrent Group has contested each citation, an option taken more often by businesses over the last four years. Within 15 days of receiving the June 30 Citation and Notification of Penalty, Concurrent needed to contest the citations and fines, pay the fines or request an informal meeting with the area director.
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State records say Concurrent Group first registered to do business in June 2017. Pennsylvania company QualTek acquired Concurrent in August 2021. Phone messages left with Concurrent from the Miami Herald haven’t been returned.
“An employee lost their life because Concurrent Group LLC failed to use required safeguards before starting work that morning,” said OSHA Area Office Director Condell Eastmond. “The company could have prevented this tragedy if it had ensured the power lines were de-energized before allowing employees to work in close proximity.”
Workplace safety complaints can be filed to the Occupational Safety Health Administration online, by calling 800-321-6742 (OSHA), faxing or emailing your local OSHA office or showing up at your local OSHA office.
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