Firm is fined $447,000 in worker’s death

An East boston firm has been fined $447,000 after an employee fell 29 stories to his death when two safety lines broke while he was preparing to wash the windows of a downtown boston high-rise in october, workplace safety officials said.

the occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Sky Safety inc. for two willful, four serious, and two repeat violations of workplace safety standards in the death of Nicholas J. marks on oct. 23, 2023. it was the largest fine imposed on a massachusetts business this fiscal year, oSHA said.

marks, 40, was preparing to wash the windows of 100 Summer St. and was climbing into a bosun’s chair when the “anchor line snapped,” an oSHA investigator wrote in a report. “During the fall, the lifeline snapped, and the employee fell to the ground level below.”

At the time, three ropes could be seen hanging from one side of the building and a fourth that appeared to have snapped was visible about 16 floors up.

“to ensure the safety of employees who work at heights, employers like Sky Safety inc. must make their responsibility to provide comprehensive training on inspecting rope descent systems and fall protection equipment and components before each use an absolute priority,” oSHA regional administrator Galen blanton said in a statement.

Sky Safety could not immediately be reached for comment.

While operating under a different corporate name of Hirise inc., the employer was cited in may 2019 for safety equipment violations while an employee was working on the mcCormack State office building in downtown boston and in August 2013 at 1 Congress St.

in the 2019 incident, oSHA found that a “rope used to provide fall protection to an employee was badly damaged. it had not been removed from service” and that “rope descent system rope was not protected against damage from rough and narrow wall and angle iron surfaces.”