Painting company owner faces criminal OSHA charges

The case of a western Pennsylvania painting company provides a good reminder that OSHA violations have the potential to result in jail time.

Thomas C. Caruso, owner of the company, Modern Painting and Decorating, faces federal criminal charges in the electrocution death of one of his employees.

Caruso has been charged with a single misdemeanor count of “willful violation of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation causing the death of an employee,” which carries a maximum penalty of six months incarceration, one year of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Modern Painting already has been issued a $57,400 civil fine for one willful and two serious violations stemming from the OSHA’s investigation of the April 7, 2010, death.

The employee was painting a commercial building when he came in contact with a high voltage electrical wire and was electrocuted, according to an October 2010 OSHA statement.

Caruso was cited by federal prosecutors for violating an OSHA rule that requires employers to prevent workers from laboring close to any part of an electric power circuit unless the workers are protected against electric shock by insulating the circuit or de-energizing and grounding the circuit.

An article in Occupational Safety & Health Reporter points out that criminal charges for violating OSHA rules are rare, but that the charge against Caruso marks the second time in less than a year that prosecutors in the western Pennsylvania district have taken an alleged violator to court. In February, the superintendent of a motel construction site pleaded guilty to violating fall protection regulations after a worker fell 40 feet to his death in August 2009.

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