OSHA says the death of a Freetown concrete company employee was preventable. Read more.

Matthew Ferreira, The Standard-Times
·2 min read

BRAINTREE — An East Freetown concrete contractor has until Dec. 12 to comply or appropriately respond to OSHA violations, after what the federal agency says was a preventable death of an employee, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the Labor Department's Dec. 1 press release, on Sept. 6 an employee of John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc. was crushed between a conveyor and its frame while trying to remove a soil screen from the machine, as instructed. A federal investigation determined the incident occurred "because the company failed to ensure the conveyor’s power source was disabled to prevent its unintended startup as the employee performed maintenance," the release reads.

Relative to this incident, OSHA's reported findings were that the company did not:

  • have an energy control program to isolate the conveyor’s power source and prevent an unintended startup;

  • provide locks, tags or other hardware to isolate, secure or block machines and equipment from their energy sources to prevent sudden starts or moves;

  • adequately maintain the soil screener, which had numerous defects and missing parts;

  • forbid employees from riding in a front-end loader’s bucket, exposing them to crush and fall hazards;

  • record each work-related fatality, injury or illness case on the OSHA Form 300 or equivalent.

The Labor Department letter, addressed to both John Oliveira & Sons and another company, Oliveira Brothers Materials Inc., notes the location of both as 31-33 Middleboro Rd., East Freetown.

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Attempts to contact both businesses were unsuccessful Friday.

Penalties proposed

Of six total citations issued to John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc., OSHA said three were categorized as "willful," two as "serious," and one as "other-than-serious." In total, OSHA assessed $200,905 in proposed penalties, according to the release.

Federal investigators say a concrete business at 31-33 Middleboro Rd. in East Freetown has been cited with six OSHA violations following the death of an employee investigators say was preventable.
Federal investigators say a concrete business at 31-33 Middleboro Rd. in East Freetown has been cited with six OSHA violations following the death of an employee investigators say was preventable.

“John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc.’s failure to employ well-known safeguards needlessly cost a worker's  life,” said OSHA Area Director James Mulligan in Braintree. “Employers must develop and rigorously maintain equipment and each element of their energy control plans to identify and minimize hazards and protect workers’ safety and health.”

What does John Oliveira & Sons have to do now?

John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc. was given 15 business days from the issuance of the OSHA citations on Nov. 16 to either come into compliance, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, according to the release.

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To view the U.S. Department of Labor's letter and citations to John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete Inc., visit tinyurl.com/eastfreetown.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete cited by OSHA after employee death