Contractor fined $152k over fatality

BURLINGTON -- A cleaning contractor has been fined more than $150,000 by federal workplace safety regulators in a June 8 tragedy at a Burlington office building in which a window washer plunged 50 feet to his death.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Newton-based Unicco Service Co. for alleged willful and repeat violations of safety standards. The company was cited for similar hazards following a double fatality in 2003, said Francis Pagliuca, OSHA's Middlesex and Essex counties director.

Unicco has 15 business days to contest the $152,500 in fines. A message left for a company spokeswoman was not immediately returned yesterday.

The accident occurred when a crew was cleaning the windows of a four-story building. One employee was on the roof tending to the suspended window-washing unit while the other man was lowered to wash the windows.