June 7, 2014
The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Halmar International for two serious violations of workplace safety standards in connection with the deaths of two workers and injuries to a third.
Construction worker Timothy Lang, 53, of Saugerties, was killed Dec. 2 when a concrete wall fell on him at a mock up worksite in Maybrook. Another worker who was injured, Scott Winkler, 53, of Monroe, later died. A third man, Rafael Zakota, 37, of Glendale, sustained injuries.
The men were working at a Maybrook site owned and operated by Halmar, which is being used to build a replica of the Catskill Aqueduct so that its workers could practice work that will be done in Gardiner. Eventually the Catskill and Delaware aqueducts will be connected.
The first violation filed by OSHA is for the formwork’s failure to support the loads applied to it during the concrete pour due to the absence of three diagonal braces. The second violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Halmar has until June 20 to comply, meet with OSHA to discuss the citations and seek to settle the case meaning the employer accepts the citations, shows the violations have been abated and pays a fine — in this case $14,000, or contests the findings before the independent OSHA Review Commission.
If the employer does not respond at all, the citations and fines become final and the employer foregoes any appeal rights.
As of Friday, Halmar has not responded.