Contractors fined for fatal accident at Chetrit development in Miami Beach

35-year-old construction worker fell to his death at the Collins Park project in December

2000 Park Avenue in Miami Beach (Credit: Google Maps)
2000 Park Avenue in Miami Beach (Credit: Google Maps)

Two contractors were fined by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to protect employees from falling at a site in Miami Beach, about six months after a worker was killed at the project.

GA&L Construction Corp. and the Rinaldi Group of Florida are facing more than $87,000 in penalties after a 35-year-old worker was killed on Dec. 17. The employee fell and was punctured by rebar. He died after he was transferred to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

OSHA fined the companies for failing to conduct regular inspections, letting workers use an unsecured extension ladder, and failing to provide fall protection. According to the citations, employees were exposed to a 40-foot all hazard from the fifth floor of the project. GA&L was fined $43,569, while Rinaldi’s fines added up to $43,758. The Miami Herald first reported the fines.

GA&L Construction filed for dissolution 11 days after the incident, according to the Herald. The company was incorporated by Jose Arellano also known as Jose Gabriel Arellano Eksmmeiro in September.

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The Chetrit Group is developing the Collins Park hotel project, which takes up the entire block between Park and Washington avenues, and 20th and 21st streets.

CG Sunny Isles, led by Joseph Chetrit, who heads the New York-based development firm, owns the site. The 294-key hotel development, which is being designed by Kobi Karp, calls for four new buildings with 172,000 square feet, underground parking and an interior courtyard. It’s across the street from the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center.

Chetrit closed on $55 million in financing for the project in 2015.