Florida contractor gets $18,000 fine after a worker’s fatal fall. A ladder was too short
A Winter Haven contractor will pay $18,312 in federal fines for violations stemming from a worker falling to his death off a Naples mobile home carport.
The violation causing over half the fine to Stettinius Construction points to a ladder several feet too short for safe use.
Stettinius will start making penalty payments on the fine it settled down from $26,142. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found four violations, all in the Serious category, after investigating the Nov. 1 death of a worker as he worked on mobile home in the 100 block of Belle Isle Circle in Naples.
As OSHA described the fatal fall on its website: “Employee No. 1 was installing aluminum decking on a carport. Employee No. 1 fell 11 feet from the carport roof while attempting to get off from the roof by stepping on a step ladder below him. Employee No. 1 fell on the concrete floor, and he was killed due to blunt force trauma to the head.”
Stettinius was cited for lack of fall protection and not providing proper ladder safety training. But $9,293 of the settled fine comes from a ladder too short for safety.
“Employees were exposed to a 9-foot, 4.5-inch fall hazard while using a 6-foot stepladder when descending from a carport roof due to the latter’s length not being tall enough for the employees to use safely when climbing up or down the ladder.”
State records say Stettinius Construction was registered in Florida by President Michael Stettinius in 2003 and has been run by him and Vice President Shelley Stettinius since then.
This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 9:34 AM.
