OSHA cites 2 firms in Hermon electrocution

BANGOR – Two contractors face a combined $121,500 in safety violation fines stemming from an accident last September at a residential construction site in Hermon where one employee was electrocuted and a second injured.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited J&S Carpentry of Columbia and Irving Equipment Inc. of Hampton, N.H., for 15 alleged safety violations in the Sept. 12 accident, which killed Angel Vallespi, 24, of Portland and seriously injured Robert McLeod of Harrington.

“The basic safeguards designed to prevent just this sort of accident were ignored here with fatal results,” William Coffin, OSHA’s area director for Maine, said in a statement. “De-energizing the power line and maintaining a safe working distance from it would have prevented this death and injury.”

Construction crews were working on the modular home at 28 Lily Lane in the Clearview Estates subdivision when the Irving Equipment crane bumped into a 7,200 volt overhead power line. Vallespi and McLeod were attaching the crane’s rigging equipment to a modular home when the accident occurred.

OSHA issued the citations March 11 and the two companies have 15 business days from their receipt to contact the federal agency and schedule a conference. J&S Carpentry has contacted OSHA but has yet to schedule a conference date, while Irving Equipment will meet with the agency on April 8, according to Ted Fitzgerald, an OSHA spokesman. During the conference, a settlement agreement may be reached or the companies could state their intent to contest the citations before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Calls to both J&S Carpentry and Irving Equipment were not returned by Tuesday evening.

J&S Carpentry received two willful citations for working in close proximity to an energized power line and for not protecting employees against hazards that could cause falls. The company also received four other serious citations for the lack of onsite medical attention, the absence of hard hats and electrical warning signs and ladder hazards. The proposed fines total $32,000.

Irving Equipment, the owner and operator of the crane, received six serious citations for operating the crane within 10 feet of a power line, not operating the crane to manufacturer’s and industry standards, and lack of fall protection, hard hats, onsite medical attention and an electric warning sign. Irving Equipment also received repeat citations each for operating a crane in high winds, inadequate support for the crane’s outriggers and not inspecting the job site for hazards. The company was cited in May 2005 for similar dangers at a Freeport job site. Proposed fines total $89,500 for the New Hampshire company.

Irving Equipment faces higher fines mainly because of its size, said Fitzgerald. While J&S Carpentry faces some more serious citations, the company employs approximately four people, while Irving Equipment’s parent company, J.D. Irving Ltd., has about 4,000 employees.

“The penalties do not reflect the fact that death occurred,” Fitzgerald said. “OSHA does not presume to put a dollar amount on human life. It is based on the classification of citations.”

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