OSHA issues three citations to Mid-Missouri landscaping company

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Labor, has issued three citations on Dec. 9 to a local landscaping company, Cherry Landscape Services.

ABC17 News obtained them on Wednesday.

Nicky Murphy was working for the landscaping company when he said he fell while trimming a tree in Fulton in early September.

He said his employer, Tim Cherry, didn’t provide him with the proper training or safety equipment to scale the tree.

Murphy’s mother, Shauna Brooks, reached out to ABC17 News earlier this fall, stating her son broke his ankle as well as seriously injured his shoulder when he fell out of the tree.

ABC17 News contacted the Missouri Department of Labor as well as several state senators.

Eventually, OSHA took up the case. David Keim, the assistant area director for OSHA in St. Louis sent those citations to ABC17 News Wednesday.

Each OSHA violation is labeled as “serious” and states his employer was negligent when it came to safety procedures on site. The employer will be fined about $8,500.

The landscaping company has until Jan. 4 to respond to the citations with either a request for an informal meeting or a letter of contest.

OSHA said if Cherry does not respond to the citations, his fines could eventually be transferred to debt collections.

Cherry Landscape Services has not responded to any contact from ABC17 News.