Employers are required to provide safe and healthy workplaces for their employees under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. OSHA is the government agency in charge of making sure that these conditions are met by setting safety and health standards. When employers are found to be in breach of these standards, they are cited and fined by OSHA.

Such is the case for a Houston, Texas, company called Atlas Texas Construction and Trading Inc. After an inspection, OSHA recently fined the construction company for 11 serious safety violations, which amounted to proposed penalties of $51,000.

The inspection uncovered that about 20 construction workers were exposed to hazards relating to electrocution and falling from elevated heights while they were building a school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

OSHA accused the company of failing to train workers about the hazards of electrical equipment, failing to protect workers from protruding rebar, failing to supply sufficient scaffolds and failing to provide a system to prevent falls. OSHA deemed that these were all "serious" violations, meaning that there was a "substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known."

The Houston-based company employs about 4,000 construction workers throughout the nation. It will now have 15 business days since the citations were issued to comply, request an informal of contest the citations and fines.

"This company disregarded the safety of its workers by exposing them to multiple hazards," said the director of OSHA's Little Rock Area Office, which was responsible with conducting the inspection. "OSHA's standards must be followed to prevent injuries and fatalities."

Ultimately, the company is lucky that no workers appear to have been hurt or killed on the project. Had an accident occurred, the company could be facing a lot more than $51,000 in personal injury lawsuits.

Source: OSHA Regional News Release, "US Labor Department's OSHA cites Houston, Texas-based construction company for electrical, fall and other hazards at Little Rock, Ark., work site," Sept. 30, 2011.