A Boston contractor involved in a 2021 double fatality and with a history of violations and various business names has again been cited for violations involving employee safety, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced last month.
The DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Laurence Moloney, doing business as (dba) Atlantic Coast Utilities LLC/Advanced Utilities Inc. and Nuala Nichoncubhair, dba Sterling Excavation LLC and their successors, with eight OSHA violations, with proposed penalties of $624,777, DOL announced Feb. 14.
“Less than six months after being cited for egregious willful violations in the deaths of two employees in an excavation," Galen Blanton, OSHA regional administrator in Boston, said in the announcement, "this serial violator again exposed employees to potentially fatal cave-in and struck-by hazards.”
OSHA reports its investigators found that employees working at a residence in East Boston were exposed to "life-threatening hazards," including cave-ins and being struck by falling debris or collapsing structures.
Moloney and Nichoncubhair and their companies failed to provide protection against cave-ins such as preventing rock and soil from falling into excavation sites; ensure the stability of connecting buildings and other structures; investigate job sites and correct potential hazards; provide employees with helmets; and other violations, DOL reports.
These alleged violations are a continuation of a decades-long history of workplace abuses by Moloney and his various companies, OSHA reports. In August 2021, Moloney and his businesses were charged with 28 violations and $1,350,884 in penalties in the deaths of two workers in a trench collapse in downtown Boston, OSHA states.
"Under various names, including Shannon Construction Corp. and Atlantic Coast Utilities LLC, Moloney and his companies have an extensive history of OSHA trenching and excavation violations dating back almost 20 years," DOL states in the announcement. "Six previous inspections of his companies resulted in the issuance of 14 willful repeat and serious violations, with $81,242 in penalties, $73,542 of which are unpaid and have been referred to debt collection."
As a result of the extensive history of workplace safety violations, Moloney and his companies meet the requirements for the Severe Violator Enforcement Program, according to OSHA.
