ROSELLE, IL – Illinois based Emerald has become notorious for their lack of caution and consideration to workplace hazards, and now owes over $600k in affirmed unpaid penalties after its seventh and most recent citation. 

This comes just months after U.S. Department of Labor OSHA inspectors observed safety violations that included exposing workers to deadly fall hazards without adequate fall protection, lack of guardrails on ramps, failing to train workers on proper use of powered industrial vehicles, failing to ensure the use of head, face, and eye protection, and allowing workers to use ladders improperly. 

Emerald has yet to respond to citations issued in 2018, 2020 and 2021. A total of $160,422 in unpaid penalties have been referred for debt collection.

“Emerald Inc. continues to expose its workers to the construction industry’s leading cause of workplace deaths and the potential for serious injuries, debilitation or worse,” explained OSHA Chicago North Area Director Angeline Loftus. “This company’s willingness to gamble with its workers’ lives will not be tolerated. OSHA will hold employers accountable for failing in their legal responsibility to provide safe working conditions.”

In late 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 351 of the 1,008 construction workers who died on the job were deaths related to falls from elevation.

OSHA’s stop falls website offers safety information and video presentations in English and Spanish to teach workers about hazards and proper safety procedures. Learn more about OSHA’s annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls.

Read the full story from OSHA.