Jersey City construction company fined more than $46,000 by OSHA for serious and repeat safety violations at Columbus Drive project in Downtown Jersey City

February 09, 2012, 3:03 AM
By Andrew Steadman/The Jersey Journal

Jersey City-based Clara Construction has been fined more than $46,000 by U.S. Department of Labor?s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for alleged safety violations at a local work site.

A Clara Construction work site at 109 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City had 10 serious safety violations and one repeat violation, OSHA officials stated in a press release. The violations carry penalties of $46,200, with the serious violations carrying a $36,960 penalty and the repeat violation carrying a $9,240 penalty.


The Christopher Columbus Drive work site for which Clara Construction is being fined.

This isn?t the first time Clara Construction has violated workplace standards for safety, OSHA officials said.

?For this company, it was fall hazards,? said OSHA Deputy Regional Director Joanna Hawkins. ?They were cited for the same violation in 2010.?

Clara Construction officials declined to comment.

The work site is a five-story retail and apartment building currently under construction and set to open this summer, according to online real estate listings.

Hawkins said the repeat violation was issued because Clara Construction had been previously cited for hazards at a work site in Long Island City, Queens, while the serious violations were all issued for separate instances of failing to comply with OSHA regulations on fall hazards.

OSHA defines a serious violation as ?when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.?

According to OSHA, the violations at the Columbus Drive work site included: failing to protect workers from fall and impalement hazards; failing to ensure scaffold platforms were laid correctly; failing to make sure guardrails were at sufficient heights; and failing to provide protection around surface holes.

?Once the company receives the citation, they have 15 business days to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA?s area director, or contest the citations,? Hawkins said.