A federal workplace safety investigation has revealed that a metro-Chicago carpentry contractor, notorious for endangering its workers, has once again disregarded critical safety regulations. Dromin Development LLC has been found negligent in providing essential fall protection at a Frankfort construction site.
For the seventh time since 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Dromin Development LLC. This citation is for failing to equip and train its employees with the necessary safety gear while constructing a new home in Frankfort. Currently, the company owes over $114,000 in unpaid penalties for prior similar violations.
During the March 2024 inspection in Frankfort, OSHA discovered several alarming oversights. Employees were working at heights exceeding six feet without any fall protection. Furthermore, the company failed to provide training in fall protection and the correct operation of forklifts. Additional infractions included workers not wearing hard hats and improper ladder usage.
As a result of these findings, OSHA cited the Palos Park construction contractor for two repeat violations. Additionally, they issued one willful, one serious, and one other-than-serious violation. The agency has proposed $268,309 in penalties.
“Each year, hundreds of workers die in preventable falls,” stated OSHA’s Chicago South Area Director, James Martineck, in Tinley Park, Illinois. “Ensuring that workers use fall protection when working at heights of six feet or more can be the difference between life and death. OSHA continues to collaborate with the construction industry to mitigate this deadly hazard and will hold all employers accountable for not providing safe working conditions.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 1,056 construction workers died on the job in 2022, with 423 of those fatalities related to falls from elevation, slips, or trips.
Dromin Development has 15 business days from the receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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