East Patchogue construction company to pay $144G over worker's death
East Patchogue-based Northridge Construction Corp. has reached a $144,000 settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor over the death of a worker at company headquarters in 2018. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/ALEX EDELMAN
An East Patchogue construction company will pay $144,000 in federal fines and “take substantive steps” to improve jobsite safety as part of a settlement over the death of a worker killed in a 2018 building collapse while installing roof panels.
The settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor closes a five-year investigation into Northridge Construction Corp. after the worker at company headquarters fell 12 feet in December 2018 and died after suffering sustaining a serious head injury.
It calls for Northridge to perform daily pre-job hazard assessments and safety inspections, and requires safety planning, training and inspections of all subcontractors.
All Northridge forepersons must receive 30 hours of Occupational Safety and Health Administration training. The company is also now required to give all field employees 10 hours of OSHA safety training, federal officials said.
“This settlement affirms OSHA’s citations, which found that Northridge Construction Corp. knowingly failed to safeguard its employees from fall hazards,” said Jeffrey Rogoff, the Labor Department's regional solicitor for New York, in a news release. “Its terms require this employer to take substantive steps to prevent hazards and safety violations from recurring.”
Northridge officials and attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
On Dec. 8, 2018, Northridge employees were installing roof panels on a partially completed metal shed at the company's East Patchogue headquarters when one of the workers fell 12 feet to his death.
OSHA inspectors determined the company failed to provide fall protection or protective helmets, did not ensure the structural integrity of the roof and misused a ladder.
On June 5, 2019, OSHA cited Northridge for a host of “willful and serious” workplace safety violations. The company contested the citations to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
“While no settlement can restore a worker’s life, it can result in enhanced practices and procedures designed to save others,” said OSHA Area Director Kevin Sullivan, who is based in Westbury. “Falls are among the deadliest hazards in construction work, but they are preventable by — among other things — supplying and requiring the use of fall protection equipment and the training workers need to use it properly.”
In January, Northridge pleaded guilty to criminal counts of violating an OSHA regulation and to making two false statements that obstructed the agency’s inquiry into the worker's death. The firm faces 5 years probation and a $500,000 fine at sentencing on April 3.
In November, Richard Zagger of Blue Point, who in 2018 was a supervisor for Northridge, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and obstructing the investigation into the fatal accident.
Zagger, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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