Judge rules that Mass. companies operated as single employer at worksite where 3 workers fell
An administrative law judge with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has ruled that two Massachusetts contractors - A.C. Castle Construction Co. Inc. and Daryl Provencher, doing business as Provencher Home Improvements - were operating as a single employer at a Wenham worksite when three employees were injured in October 2014.
The employees were performing residential roofing work on a ladder jack scaffold when the wooden plank on which they were standing snapped, causing them to fall 20 feet to the ground. An OSHA investigation found that the wooden plank was not graded for scaffold use and its invoice made clear it was not for scaffold use. Other hazards included deficiencies with the scaffold's components and structure and lack of fall protection for the employees.