The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports it has reached a settlement agreement with a New Jersey contractor after a worker suffered a fatal fall at a Bayonne worksite in October 2023.

The settlement followed an OSHA inspection of Granite & Marble Services of Linden after the Bayonne Police Department alerted the agency that a worker had suffered fatal injuries at a multi-unit residential building under construction.

OSHA said its inspectors determined a 39-year-old worker had stepped onto an elevated platform to unload materials and fell from the building’s fifth level. OSHA found that the employer did not secure the work platform fully to prevent it from tipping or from being dislodged from a telehandler’s forks.

According to OSHA, Granite & Marble Services also failed to provide legally required fall protection and used the work platform without the prior written approval from the telehandler’s manufacturer.

The agency cited the contractor with four serious violations.

After receiving its citations on April 25, 2024, the Granite & Marble Services requested an informal conference with OSHA’s area director and reached the settlement agreement with the agency. The agreement affirms the company’s four serious violations, and requires the company to pay a $13,500 penalty, implement further enhanced abatement measures and develop a safety program and fall protection plan.

As part of its fatality investigation, OSHA said it also initiated an inspection of ARC NJ, operating as ARC Building Partners, and the general contractor at the Bayonne construction site. OSHA cited the company for two serious violations for its failures to ensure the platform was secured to the forklift and for not getting the manufacturer’s written approval before attaching the working platform to the telehandler. Proposed penalties total $22,584.

ARC Building Partners has submitted a notice of contest to the independent OSHA review commission.

In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 1,069 construction workers died on the job, including 395 related to falls from elevation.