Failure to Address Extension Cord Tripping Hazard Results in $50,000 Fine

At a construction site, two temporary workers were assigned to move a cart loaded with sheets of 18-gauge steel weighing about 2,050 pounds in total. The load wasn’t secured to the cart. As the cart was being moved, it was obstructed by an extension cord on the floor. A third worker came to help them move the cart over the cord. As they did so, the steel sheets fell onto the temporary workers. Both suffered broken bones. Two weeks before this incident, an MOL inspector had ordered the construction company to implement a plan to manage the electrical cords on the site’many cords were on the floor, constituting a tripping hazard. The company pleaded guilty to a safety violation and was fined $50,000 [Elite Construction Inc., Got. News Release, Oct. 6, 2015].