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USDOL cites Paramount Builders again for endangering employees in A. Samoa
PAGO PAGO, America Samoa—A Pago Pago building construction company’s long history of violations of federal workplace safety and health laws continued after inspections at two American Samoa work sites where the employer exposed workers to numerous dangerous hazards.
Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Paramount Builders Ltd. with 22 serious violations, including willful and repeat failures, in 26 inspections. The company’s history includes fall protection failures that led to an employee’s 24-foot fatal fall in May 2013 as they painted rafters.
During a January 2023, OSHA found Paramount Builders once again endangering its employees. The agency cited the company for 21 violations—including nine serious, six willful and six repeat serious violations—and proposed $1,088,681 in penalties.
Specifically, OSHA determined Paramount Builders failed to:
Use guardrail systems, safety net systems or personal fall arrest systems, as required.
Equip stairways with one stair rail system along each unprotected side or edge.
Ensure workers used appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially hazardous light radiation.
Install equipment safely as instructed by the manufacturer.
“Paramount Builders has historically shown its willingness to ignore federal laws that protect its employees from being exposed to serious injuries and potentially fatal hazards, and its intentional disregard must end,” said OSHA area office director Roger Forstner in Honolulu.
Based in Pago Pago, Paramount Builders Inc. specializes in large construction projects, including the Parliament Building in Pago Pago. (PR)
