CARMELO CONSTRUCTION, INC.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, CARMELO CONSTRUCTION, INC. — a finish carpentry contractors facility located at 1 MONTELLA CIRCLE, LIMERICK, PA 19468 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 7 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $21,077.00. The inspection case was opened on 2017-04-12.

DOL records document workplace safety violations warranting formal citation under the OSH Act. While classified at the standard enforcement level, all OSHA citations require corrective action and may indicate areas where workplace safety programs should be strengthened.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 2.8 per 100 full-time workers — 4% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 9.6 per 100,000 workers.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $21,077.00 is more than 5.8× the national average of $3,609.14 for facilities in the Construction sector (NAICS 238350). This sector encompasses 532,749 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $1,922.8M.

State Context: Within PA, this facility's penalty places it at the 98th percentile among 84,409 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,015.83.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 7 citations spanning 5 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 5 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 2 repeat — A substantially similar violation was found during a previous inspection and the original citation has become a final order.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning May 8, 2017 with the latest abatement deadline set for May 18, 2017. Of the 7 total citations, 0 (0%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $21,077.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $3,011.00 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement record for Carmelo Construction, Inc. reveals a critical breakdown in fall protection protocols, characterized by a dangerous reliance on non-compliant scaffolding and access systems. The presence of multiple Repeat (R) violations under standards 1926.451(g)(1) and 1926.501(b)(13) indicates a systemic failure to rectify previously identified hazards, specifically regarding fall protection for residential construction activities and scaffold guardrails. These Repeat classifications are legally significant, as they demonstrate the employer’s prior knowledge of OSHA requirements and a failure to maintain a permanent culture of compliance, which significantly elevated the penalty amounts compared to typical first-time infractions in the Finish Carpentry Contractors (NAICS 238350) sector. The technical nature of the citations—ranging from improper scaffold platform construction and unstable footing to non-compliant ladder side rails—suggests that workers were exposed to catastrophic fall risks from multiple vectors. The gravity-five ratings on several items underscore the high probability of severe injury or fatality resulting from these conditions. Collectively, these violations depict an environment where safety was treated as an afterthought rather than an integrated operational requirement. The lack of adequate fall arrest systems or guardrails, paired with improper ladder usage, suggests that management failed to provide the necessary oversight and equipment to protect employees working at heights, transforming routine carpentry tasks into high-risk operations.