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| | Three Frogs Real Estate Cited For No Work Comp Policy Plus Safety Violations Leading To An Employee Death
By Lonce LaMon - April 15, 2014
Cal/OSHA issued citations yesterday with proposed penalties of $91,865 to Three Frogs, Inc. also known as Three Frogs Real Estate, based in the San Diego, California area (La Mesa) and found on the web at www.threefrogsre.com . Their web site links simply go back to the home page and none of their investment opportunities or homes for sale are actually listed on their web site. It appears no one is at work developing the web site.
Three Frogs is ostensibly a bottom-feeder type of real estate investment company that buys up distressed properties from homeowners in foreclosure or behind on their payments or that are just inexpensive and for sale. They find investors to buy these properties for very low prices and then sell them for profit after renovating and upgrading them.
The investigation which brought forth the proposed penalties began with a fatal tree-trimming accident which occurred on November 12th 2013. A 42-year-old employee, Joshua Alan Pudsey, was killed when he was struck by a large section of a 60-foot-tall eucalyptus tree he was helping to remove from Three Frogs’ property.
Joshua Pudsey had been working as a general construction laborer at various properties owned by Three Frogs for about three months when the accident occurred at a residence on the 4400 block of Date Avenue in La Mesa. Neither he nor any of the other construction workers employed by Three Frogs had the experience or training needed to safely cut down a tree of that size.
Cal/OSHA’s investigation revealed that Three Frogs had failed to employ a qualified tree worker which is required by law to direct all work related to tree trimming, tree repair, or removal of trees that exceed 15 feet in height. It was determined that the workers were not trained to use the 80-foot aerial lift that elevated the employees to cut the tree. They were also not provided eye protection or a fall protection harness while working in the lift.
Christine Baker, the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) made the statement, “Workers at construction sites are frequently exposed to serious hazards, and safety training is essential to prevent serious injuries and fatalities. This incident is a vivid reminder of what can go wrong when employers don’t have proper safety procedures in place.”
CAL/OSHA, which is a division of DIR, issued 13 citations against Three Frogs for violations of California’s workplace safety regulations, including eight that were serious in nature. Five of the eight serous citations issued are accident-related. A serious workplace safety violation is cited when there is a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm could result from the actual hazard created by the violation. Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations (BOI), which investigates fatalities and other serious injuries, has an ongoing criminal investigation as well.
The five general citations issued to Three Frogs relate to additional violations of the tree removal standard, including the company’s failure to have an Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP). All California employers are required to have an IIPP as a foundation for establishing a safe workplace. The company also lacked a written Heat Illness Prevention Program, another requirement at outdoor worksites.
Three Frogs was cited on November 13, 2013 and ordered to stop operations after the Labor Commissioner found that the business failed to provide workers’ compensation coverage to their employees. This stop order will be removed once Three Frogs demonstrates that a workers’ compensation policy is in effect and meanwhile the investigation into labor practices is still active.
lonce@adjustercom.com; journalist Lonce LaMon; copyright adjustercom; all rights reserved
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