The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Sing Da Corp., H Rock Corp. and Vera Construction Inc. for various violations of workplace safety. This comes after the investigation of a January fatality that occurred on a construction site in Elmhurst, NY.
Employees there were filling a two story high by 65 foot long concrete block wall with cement when the wall collapsed. The accident killed one employee and hospitalized three others.
These three companies involved were cited for willful and serious violations which in other words mean they were aware violations were being committed and voluntarily disregarded the law’s requirements. They acted with plain indifference to worker safety and health. Penalties for the three employers total $116,312. That’s just the beginning of their net income loss for this incident.
Here are some other costs, all un-insurable I might add, that businesses face when a sizable loss occurs:
1) Loss of worker productivity & moral when a fellow worker is severely injured or dies on a construction site.
2) Loss of focus by the project management team usually culminating in project delays and missing budgets.
3) NY Department of Labor / OSHA Audits that pulls productive resources from the job site, into proving various levels of compliance.
None of it contributing to the bottom line goal of on time or on budget.
4) Hiring of outside experts to mount a defense of the company. Usually legal counsel, safety consultants, accountants, insurance adjusters,
all draining profits and resources from the project.
5) If it’s your workers compensation that is in play, your experience modification factor will be adversely effected, raising costs, for 3 years
or more.
6) Your liability insurance will be surcharged between 40 to 100% of current insurance premium levels, FOR 5 YEARS, imperiling profits
not just on this project, but impeding your cost structure and your ability to compete on future projects with that of your peers whose costs
structures are lower than yours because their claims history is superior to yours.
7) If you work with, and are funded by various City, State, or Federal agencies a large loss like this most certainly impacts future project
awards when these Agencies look at reputation and safety as a component of the selection process.
There are more however I figure you already downed a fifth of Scotch reading this. These 7 items above all can result in significant net income loss for your firm, none of which is covered by insurance. When I say to existing and potential clients that 80% of your losses are outside the cost of the insurance policy this is what I am referring to. Each one of those 7 items are on your balance sheet every time you have a sizeable loss whether you acknowledge it or not. Don’t let an accident take down your business or erase your hard earned profits. Talk to a Risk Advisor at Metropolitan Risk Advisory today to get a free consultation. Insure not just your business, but your profits.