Taunton Gazette Photo | Mike Gay | Workers inspect the scene of a workplace fatality of a construction worker in Taunton on the property of St. Mary's School on August 17, 2015
Posted August 24, 2015
TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS
A Massachusetts workplace safety advocacy group is shining a light on the death of a construction worker in Taunton last week, calling on employers Monday to carefully follow training standards.
The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health released a statement calling the death of Kevin Miranda, of Taunton-based Skyline Contracting and Roofing, a “tragic reminder” about the dangerous nature of working at elevated heights. Miranda, a 48-year-old employee for the Taunton-based Skyline Contracting and Roofing, died when an aerial lift tipped over as his company performed an inspection of a smokestack on the property of St. Mary’s School last Monday.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of our lost brother,” said MassCOSH Executive Director Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, in a statement released by the advocacy group.
A woman who answered the phone at the Taunton office of Skyline Roofing and Contracting said that the company is not commenting on Miranda’s death.
“As of right now, we are not going to accept that,” said the receptionist, responding to an interview request directed toward the company. According to state filings, Skyline Contracting and Roofing has been around since 1991 and the president of the company is Lester Hooben, of Berkley.
A review of Skyline Contracting and Roofing’s OSHA records reveals that the Taunton company has two previous cases, including one investigation opened in 2007 and another in 2008. Those nine violations resulted in nearly $14,000 in penalties from OSHA, including a $4,000 repeat violation for a lack of fall protection and a $2,000 fine for a "serious" violation related to fall protection systems and practices.
The Taunton Daily Gazette has requested additional information about these cases from OSHA’s regional office in Braintree.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration started an investigation into Miranda’s workplace death immediately last Monday, which could result in citations and fines.
Miranda’s death is the sixth fatal injury involving aerial lifts in Massachusetts in the last eight years. Many other deaths have occurred nationwide using aerial lifts.
The Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards recommends that construction employers make sure their equipment is on stable ground, and to avoid slopes and uneven surfaces. The aerial lift in Miranda’s case was stationed on a slope on the St. Mary’s School property.
But workers trained on aerial lifts should be equipped and taught to safely work on different types of terrain, including slopes, and also to know when the surface is at too much of an incline to work safely.
All employees operating aerial lifts should be training on how to properly use the aerial platform, which would include the use on different terrains and how to determine when a terrain is too sloped or uneven for safe use. Newer aerial lifts like the one that was involved in the (Taunton) incident would have a tilt alarm, which will warn the operator if the aerial platform is tilting too much, but you can’t only rely on this tilt alarm. Workers should also be trained to inspect the work area before work begins for possible hazards, such as overhead power lines.
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Posted Aug. 18, 2015 at 3:44 PM
TAUNTON, MASS.
Investigators have identified a 48-year-old man who died in Taunton on Monday when a construction lift flipped over at St. Mary’s School.
Kevin Miranda, who lived in both Somerset and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, was killed during the workplace incident, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said on Tuesday.
Miranda was working for the Taunton-based Skyline Contracting and Roofing, which was conducting an inspection for the Fall River diocese on a large smokestack behind the Catholic elementary school. Miranda was killed when a construction lift, owned by NES Rentals, tipped over on Monday afternoon at the work site, which was on a slope, near the boundary with Morton Hospital.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into Miranda’s death.
“The purpose of OSHA’s inspection is to determine whether or not there were any violations of workplace safety standards in connection with this incident,” said Ted Fitzgerald, a regional spokesman for the federal agency.
Skyline Contracting and Roofing’s office in Taunton did not return several messages seeking comment about Miranda’s death.
Chris Bowers, a spokesperson for NES Rentals, expressed condolences for Miranda and his family.
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with the family, of course, of the affected individual,” said Bowers, when reached on Tuesday. “We are cooperating with OSHA and all the other authorities at that particular location.”
Bowers said he had no other comment on the incident or the OSHA investigation.
“I think what we have to do is see what comes from the investigation,” he said. “It would be very premature for any of us to comment at this point.”
A representative for the Diocese of Fall River also expressed sadness and offered prayers for Miranda.
“The Fall River Diocese offers its heartfelt prayers for the victim of this accident, as well as the victim’s family, friends and coworkers,” said diocese spokesman John Kearns.
Fitzgerald said that on Monday his agency’s Braintree office started the investigation, which could include on-site inspections, interviews, records reviews and other research to determine if the employer complied with federal regulations. Violations could result in heavy fines.
“If the inspection identifies violations, then OSHA could issue citations and propose fines for the employer, based on the nature and severity of the hazards,” Fitzgerald stated in an email to the Taunton Daily Gazette.
At this point, “it’s too early” to estimate a completion date for the investigation, Fitzgerald said.
“Given that this inspection was prompted by a fatality it could likely be several weeks,” he said.