US Department of Labor cites Tavares contractor after finding employer willfully bypassed safety measures that led to worker’s fatal electrocution

TAVARES, FL - In the early afternoon of March 2, 2021, a 44-year-old electrical technician at an Orlando work site climbed down into a trench to splice electrical wires to power streetlights. Not long after, the worker made contact with live wires and suffered fatal electrocution, a death the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators deemed avoidable had the employer taken required safety measures.

OSHA's investigation led the agency to cite United Signs & Signals Inc. - operating as US&S - with two willful violations for exposing workers to electrical-shock hazards by failing to de-energize or guard circuits and exposing workers to cave-in hazards by neglecting to ensure the use of protective measures to safeguard employees. OSHA also cited US&S with two serious violations for not ensuring workers had a safe means to exit excavations and allowing employees to work in a trench with accumulated water.

OSHA proposed $237,566 in penalties.

'A man is dead because of US&S's willful indifference toward protecting its workers,' said OSHA Area Office Director Michelle Gonzalez in Jacksonville, Florida. 'This terrible loss should remind employers that safety measures are never optional, and the consequences for ignoring them can be fatal.'

Based in Tavares, US&S is a contractor specializing in lighting and the design, construction and installation of roadway and highway signs.

Learn more about protecting workers from electric shock and electrocution.

The company has 15 business days from 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.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970,employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's workers by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.