Feds cite Paramount Builders for endangering employees’ safety and health

Pago Pago, AMERICANSAMOA —The U.S. Department of labor is citing what it describes as “a Pago Pago building construction company’s long history of violations of federal workplace safety and health laws,” claiming the violations have continued after inspections at two American Samoa work sites “where the employer exposed workers to numerous dangerous hazards.”

A press release from the Department of Labor says, since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Paramount Builders Ltd. with 22 serious violations, including willful and repeat failures, in 26 inspections. The company’s history includes fall protection failures that led to an employee’s 24-foot fatal fall in May 2013 as they painted rafters.

 During a January 2023 [inspection], OSHA found Paramount Builders “once again” endangering its employees. The agency cited the company for 21 violations — including nine serious, six willful and six repeat serious violations — and proposed $1,088,681 in penalties.

  Specifically, OSHA determined Paramount Builders failed to:

 •          Use guardrail systems, safety net systems or personal fall arrest systems, as required.

•           Equip stairways with one stair rail system along each unprotected side or edge.

•           Ensure workers used appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially hazardous light radiation.

•           Install equipment safely as instructed by the manufacturer.

 “Paramount Builders has historically shown its willingness to ignore federal laws that protect its employees from being exposed to serious injuries and potentially fatal hazards, and its intentional disregard must end,” explained OSHA Area Office Director Roger Forstner in Honolulu. “OSHA will continue to hold this company accountable for their continued indifference to employee safety and closely monitor their operations until they bring themselves into compliance.”

Based in Pago Pago, Paramount Builders Inc. is a general contractor construction company that specializes in large construction projects, including the new Fono Building currently under construction.

 The company has 15 business days from receipt of the 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. 

(Source: U.S. Department of Labor press release)