OSHA fines Craigue & Sons of Concord $40,279 for safety violations

By ALYSSA DANDREA

Monitor staff

Published: 04-24-2019 3:58 PM

A local contractor is contesting more than $40,000 in fines proposed by federal regulators who found numerous safety violations following the death of a Concord man at a Pleasant Street worksite last year.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation into Craigue & Sons Home Exteriors in late August after the death of 51-year-old Kenneth McKenna, who worked for the family-owned company for approximately two decades.

On the morning of Aug. 28, 2018, McKenna was replacing the siding on the street side of the two-story commercial building at 280 Pleasant St., which houses medical offices. Police say he fell roughly 30 feet from a roof and landed on a concrete-like surface below. He was taken to Concord Hospital, where he later died.

OSHA has issued five citations against Craigue & Sons who inspectors maintain did not have fall protection systems in place and failed to provide fall protection training to its employees. OSHA requires employers to provide roofers fall protection equipment, such as personal fall arrest systems, guardrails or safety nets, whenever they work six-feet or more above a lower level.

Inspectors also say the contractor did not inspect a Werner fiberglass ladder used by employees for accessing the roof, noting that it was damaged and should not have been used. The ladder was installed on a roof bracket scaffolding system and used to increase an employee’s working height, which is not permitted except on large area scaffolds, OSHA said.

Further, OSHA said Craigue & Sons failed to report McKenna’s hospitalization within 24 hours after the incident occurred, as required by law.

The fines total $40,279. Because Craigue & Sons is contesting the citations, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has assigned the case to an administrative law judge who will preside over the litigation process. If both sides are able to resolve the case, there will be a formal settlement without a hearing.

McKenna’s death hits close to home for the Craigue family. Kenny Craigue, the family patriarch and former Concord business owner, fell 35 feet to a wooden floor in September 2001, when he was working on a barn roof that had collapsed from the previous winter’s snowfall.

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Kenny Craigue, who was a fixture in the local sports community as a player and coach, suffered severe head trauma and was unresponsive for three months. Following extensive rehabilitation at Crotched Mountain in Greenfield, he was able to gain some mobility and speech.

Today, the company is operated by Ken’s son, Nate, who was also a standout athlete in Concord and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins before a shoulder injury cut his career short in 1996.

McKenna graduated from Concord High School in 1983 and eventually began working in the construction business, showing an aptitude for exterior construction.

According to an obituary released by his family, McKenna was a big sports fan who played ice hockey as a child and adult. He also competed in local men’s softball and was a fantasy-football fanatic.

McKenna leaves behind an adult daughter, two brothers and his parents.

(Staff writer Nick Stoico contributed to this report. Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)]]>