New York Concrete Firm Faces $72,000 Penalty in Worker Fall

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Aug. 27 proposed fines of $72,000 fine against Sorbara Construction Corp., a Lynbrook, N.Y., concrete subcontractor, “for alleged repeat and serious” safety violations related to a March 20 accident in which a worker fell 10 ft on a Manhattan high-rise jobsite. The firm, which could not be reached for comment, has 15 days to appeal. OSHA says its jobsite inspection found “several fall-related hazards.” Sorbara’s clients include New York City’s largest building contractors. The firm was cited by OSHA last November for similar hazards at a separate Manhattan high-rise site, at which a crane collapse the previous May killed two workers. Sorbara was the crane’s lessee, says OSHA.