Painter who died in fall from Denville water tower ID'd as Newark man
Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on August 16, 2016 at 11:20 AM, updated August 16, 2016 at 11:46 AM
DENVILLE — Police have identified the painter who died after falling from a municipal water tower on Monday.
Adilson Vozniak, 37, of Newark, was sandblasting and painting the tower with a crew in the woods behind Morris Knolls High School when he fell about 40 to 50 feet from the tower, Capt. Paul Nigro said. The tower is located about a half-mile in the woods behind the high school, Nigro said.
He was taken to Saint Clare's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Vozniak was employed by Allied Painting Inc., based out of Cherry Hill, according to Joanna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Allied Painting has been cited by OSHA on multiple occasions for serious safety lapses including fall-related accidents. A call placed to Allied Painting Tuesday morning hasn't yet been returned.
Both the Denville police and OSHA are investigating.
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Painter dies after falling from water tower in Denville
By Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author
on August 16, 2016 at 7:40 AM, updated August 16, 2016 at 12:30 PM
UPDATE: Cops ID painter who died after fall from Denville water tower
DENVILLE, NJ — A man working with a painting crew on a municipal water tower fell to his death Monday, police said.
The man, identified only as a 37-year-old Newark resident, was sandblasting and painting the tower with a crew in the woods behind Morris Knolls High School when he fell about 40 to 50 feet from the tower, Capt. Paul Nigro said. The tower is located about a half-mile in the woods behind the high school, Nigro said.
The man was taken to Saint Clare's Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The man's identity hasn't yet been released pending notification of his family.
The man was employed by Allied Painting Inc., based out of Cherry Hill, according to Joanna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Allied Painting has been cited by OSHA on multiple occasions for serious safety lapses including fall-related accidents. A call placed to Allied Painting Tuesday morning hasn't yet been returned.
Both the Denville police and OSHA are investigating.
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April 16, 2015BOS 2015-082
Allied Painting Inc. exposes employees to lead and fall hazards
at Braga Bridge worksite in Fall River, Massachusetts
New Jersey-based painting contractor faces more than $41K in OSHA fines
Employer name: Allied Painting Inc., a painting contractor based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Inspection site: Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720
Date inspection initiated: The inspection, which began Oct. 30, 2014, was conducted in response to a referral from the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standard's Lead Program, which found elevated lead blood levels in Allied Painting employees who were performing abrasive blasting and painting on the bridge which spans the Taunton River between Fall River and Somerset. The work was performed on a catenary scaffold located beneath the bridge, and workers used caged ladders to climb down to the scaffold.
Investigation findings: OSHA found excess levels of lead on various surfaces where the employees work, change contaminated clothing and eat. These surfaces include floors, benches, door knobs, lockers and a microwave oven in a decontamination trailer as well as the bench seat of the company van in which employees eat lunch. Employees were also exposed to fall hazards of more than 100 feet because of access ladder obstructions and insufficient heights for temporary railings between access ladders and the permanent bridge railing. As a result of these conditions, OSHA cited Allied Painting Inc. for six serious violations of workplace health and safety standards.
Proposed Penalties: $41,580
Quote: "The health and safety of these employees were needlessly compromised by both long-term and immediate hazards. Lead* can damage workers' nervous systems, kidneys, blood-forming organs and reproductive systems if inhaled or ingested in dangerous quantities. Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work," said Robert Carbone, OSHA's acting area director for southeastern Massachusetts. "It's imperative that Allied Painting Inc. provides and ensures the effective use of all required safeguards for its employees' health and well-being."
Next: Allied Painting Inc. has contested its citations and penalties to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742), or the agency's Braintree Area Office at 617-565-6924.
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Painter Injured on DE Bridge Project
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
A painter was injured in a fall from a Delaware bridge over the weekend, but details about the fall—particularly the distance—remain unclear.
An employee of Cherry Hill, NJ-based Allied Painting Inc., Julio Rivera, 40, was injured about 10 a.m. ET Saturday (Sept. 14) while painting the substructure of the Delaware-bound span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the bridge's owner, Delaware River and Bay Authority, reported.
According to DRBA, Rivera was painting under the roadway deck between the tower and the anchorage when he fell and became trapped on the lower catwalk. Authorities described it as a "short fall" and said Rivera was "conscious, alert, and attempting to speak with paramedics."
Jim Salmon, spokesman for DRBA, was not sure of the exact distance of the fall, he told PaintSquare News on Monday (Sept. 16).
Delaware River and Bridge Authority
An Allied Painting employee was injured while working on the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Saturday (Sept. 14). Details were unclear, with initial reports indicating that he fell a short distance, while the company says it was a "same level" fall.
He suffered injuries to his wrist, arm and abdomen and was taken to Christiana Care Medical Center for treatment, DRBA reported. Rivera was treated and released, Salmon said on Monday.
Allied Painting's Account
However, Jim Cannon, owner of Allied Painting, and Bobby Stathakopoulos, project manager for Allied Painting, said that Rivera fell at the same level he was working on.
Rivera was working from the catwalk, pulling something with a rope, when the rope broke and he fell against the guardrail, bruising his ribs and knocking the wind out of himself, Cannon and Stathakopoulos told PaintSquare News on Monday.
According to Stathakopoulos, the catwalk has handrails, midrails and toe boards in compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. He said that the OSHA standards do not mandate personal fall protection with the guardrail system in place.
OSHA is investigating the incident, a spokesperson confirmed on Monday.
Delaware River and Bay Authority police officers, numerous fire and EMS units, and the New Castle County Technical High Angle Rescue team responded to the accident, DRBA reported.
Two lanes of traffic were closed during the incident but reopened by 11:45 a.m., authorities said.
OSHA
OSHA standards require railings and toeboards for open-sided floors, walkways, platforms and runways.
Allied Painting was awarded two contracts in 2010, with a combined value of $2,853,600, to clean and recoat steel surfaces on the west girder spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
The 3,650-foot-long suspension bridge connects Delaware and New Jersey with two suspension spans over the Delaware River. The bridge is a memorial to soldiers who gave their lives in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm.
Past OSHA Inspections
Allied Painting has been previously inspected and cited by OSHA, including seven serious violations totaling $25,200 in penalites in 2011, according to OSHA records. The violations included fire protection, rigging equipment for material handling, electrical requirements, wiring design and protection and wiring methods.
In 2009, OSHA said, the company paid $3,200 in penalties for one serious violation regarding lead and one other-than-serious violation for respiatory protection. Allied Painters was also cited and penfor one other-than-serious fixed ladder violation in 2008.
In 2004, an Allied Painting employee fell 15 feet into the Delaware River while working on the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge. The worker was not seriously injured.
"There was fall protection on site this morning, including a safety harness which [the worker] was wearing," Linda Spalinski, spokeswoman for the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, told The Philadelphia Inquirer after that incident.
However, since the worker was near the bridge abutment and "preparing to move onto land, he moved off the harness and slipped," Spalinksi said.