Roofing and building company Berlin Builders is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of proposed fines because of its health and safety violations. The company, based in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, has been repeatedly cited and now owes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) over $700,000 in proposed OSHA fines.
Berlin Builders is a residential construction company that operates in the tri-state area of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Hazards were found at several sites following an inspection by local OSHA officials. Representatives from OSHA cautioned against these hazards and stressed the need to assume responsibility for workers’ lives and safety, especially in the construction industry where they are at serious risk for falls.
“Berlin Builders is a serial violator that callously refuses to take even the most basic steps to protect workers from falls and other serious hazards in construction, an industry among the nation’s most hazardous,” said Richard Mendelson, OSHA regional administrator in Philadelphia, where the company has a worksite on which several serious hazards were found. “Approximately four in ten construction workers die in falls at work. It is vital that construction companies take responsibility for protecting their workers from preventable injuries and serious hazards. No one should have to sacrifice their safety for their livelihood.”
Underscoring these comments, other officials gave similar advice on the need for worker safety and hazard protection programs. “By refusing to provide the proper fall protection, Berlin Builders is jeopardizing the lives and well-being of its employees and their families,” said Paula Dixon-Roderick, one such official. Dixon-Roderick is the director of OSHA’s Marlton Area Office.
