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WHEELING - The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that it had reached a settlement agreement with an Ohio-based contractor to resolve litigation following a March 2022 investigation at a work site in Wheeling. That investigation, the department said, resulted in a dozen citations issued against the contractor.
The settlement agreement between the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Charm Builders Ltd., based out of Millersburg, Ohio, affirms 12 citations issued by OSHA - six egregious-willful, five repeat and one serious - and the corresponding $730,000 in penalties that the company must pay, along with enhanced compliance measures.
The citations followed an inspection on March 29, 2022, after OSHA received a complaint that alleged Charm Builders did not provide fall protection to workers replacing a roof atop a two-story office building in Wheeling. OSHA cited the contractor for failing to ensure the use of fall protection and safety glasses, allowing unsafe use of portable ladders and failing to provide training to employees on fall hazards.
This marks the 12th time that the agency has cited Charm Builders since 2009 for violations related to fall hazards. OSHA placed the contractor on its severe violators list in 2022.
As part of the settlement agreement, Charm Builders Ltd. must also employ enhanced abatement measures that include the following:
- Hire a safety consultant to evaluate the company's safety program and then submit the plan to OSHA.
- Make all improvements recommended in the report.
- Accept unannounced monthly audits conducted by the safety consultant at the company's work sites and written reports submitted to the employer which the employer must retain.
- Inform OSHA of all its current and future work sites and allow entry for investigators.
- Not oppose the entry of a Section 11(b) order of enforcement.