NC reduces some fines for companies cited after five Charlotte construction worker deaths
State labor officials have reduced penalties against some companies cited after five workers died at two Charlotte construction sites last year.
The Department of Labor’s settlements imposed fines and required safety improvements from companies found at fault after a scaffolding collapse killed three workers last January and after a massive SouthPark fire killed two more men in May.
On Jan. 2, 2023, a construction crew was working on a 17-story residential tower near Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood when a “mast climber” scaffold collapsed. Workers Jesus “Chuy” Olivares, Jose Bonilla Canaca and Gilberto Monico Fernández died after falling 70 feet. Two other workers were injured.
Two contractors who were working on the residential tower near uptown at the time of the accident were cited for failing to repair a scaffold that was rusted and deteriorated, for failing to inspect the scaffold for visible defects prior to each shift and other violations.
In July, labor officials cited contractor Friends Masonry for three serious violations but agreed to let the company pay a reduced fine. The agency had originally proposed a fine of $43,500, but agreed to cut the penalty by a third — to $29,004, OSHA records show.
The labor department also cited Old North State Masonry for six serious violations and proposed fines of $87,012. But that company is contesting all citations and penalties, and its case will be heard by the state Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, labor department spokesperson Erin Wilson said in an email to The Charlotte Observer.
A second lethal construction site
On May 18, two more men died after a massive fire broke out at a construction site near SouthPark Mall. Construction workers Reuben Holmes and Demonte Sherrill died in the five-alarm blaze.
Among other safety failings, inspectors found the exits of the seven-story wooden building weren’t arranged to provide an easy way out for the workers who were trapped inside the building when the fire broke out.
Holmes and Sherrill were on the building’s sixth floor on the morning of the fire. They were about a football field away from the only exit, they told their boss in a panicked phone call just after 9:20 am, the Observer reported last year.
The largest of the labor department’s penalties in that case — $46,875 — was issued against MCRT Carolinas Construction LLC, the contractor on the 239-unit apartment building, Modera SouthPark.
In a settlement reached with MCRT on Tuesday, the labor department agreed to delete one of the citations, but did not reduce the fine, Wilson said in an email. The settlement agreement also requires the company to make improvements to its safety and health program, Wilson said.
The labor department also fined subcontractor Baker Insulation for two violations — not having a written respiratory program and not having a list of hazardous chemicals on the site. In a settlement reached with Baker Insulation on Wednesday, the labor department agreed to reduce the fine by 25% — from $6,250 to $4,687.50, Wilson said. That settlement agreement also requires the company to make safety improvements.
A third company, Diversified Insulation, didn’t contest the citations that it received. It was fined $3,125.
The SouthPark blaze was apparently sparked when spray foam insulation caught fire on the ground floor, fire officials said.
This story was originally published January 19, 2024 at 11:12 AM with the headline "NC reduces some fines for companies cited after five Charlotte construction worker deaths."