Company faces $154K fine for hazardous workplace

NORTH BALTIMORE — A Toledo-based company faces $154,696 in federal fines relating to allegations it willfully failed to protect employees from fall hazards in July at a North Baltimore job site. Employees of steel and precast concrete erection provider Henry Gurtzweiler are alleged to have been exposed to 36-foot falls while installing insulation and metal decking, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported. The job site was located at Quarry Road and Insley Road. Employees were not protected from fall hazards by guardrail systems, safety net systems, personal fall arrest systems, positioning device systems or fall restraint systems, the safety agency reported. The company is contesting the allegations. Separately, Henry Gurtzweiler was cited by the agency after an employee, installing metal roof panels with fiberglas insulation, fell 34 feet at a Defiance work site in 2021 and was killed. The company later paid a $14,500 penalty after settling with the federal agency. In addition, the company was cited by the safety agency in 2020 for failing to ensure employees were protected from falls of up to 24 feet while installing metal decking at a Perrysburg work site.