OSHA has cited The Spieker Co., a general construction contractor based in Perrysburg, Ohio, with $45,500 in proposed penalties for exposing workers to dangerous heights without proper fall protection, according to an agency press release.

Based on a March construction site inspection at a high school in Delta, Ohio, OSHA has cited the company with one willful violation with a proposed $44,000 penalty for failing to provide adequate fall protection for several workers who worked at heights in excess of 13 feet. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

The employer also has been cited with one serious citation with a proposed $1,500 penalty for failing to protect workers from exposed reinforcing steel bars, an impalement hazard. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

"Employers must ensure any employee working at elevated heights has proper fall protection," said OSHA Area Director Jule Hovi in Toledo, Ohio. "Falls continue to be the number one hazard killing or seriously maiming workers. Those who ignore safety regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers."

The Spieker Co., which employs more than 50 employees, has been cited by OSHA with serious and repeat violations several times for fall protection and other safety violations during the past three years.