ConDig (19-Dec-19). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a Florida roofing contractor $146,280 for exposing employees to fall hazards on projects in Palm Beach Gardens and Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
The agency said it cited Pompano Beach-based Action Roofing Services Inc for failing to provide fall protection to employees installing roofing tile on both projects.
OSHA said it also cited the company at the Port Saint Lucie project for improperly using the upper section of an extension ladder to gain access to a roof and for placing the ladder in front of a door without securing it.
At the Palm Beach Garden project, the agency also cited the contractor for failing to train workers on how to recognize and prevent fall hazards.
“Falls continue to be a leading cause of injuries and fatalities in construction,” said OSHA area office director Condell Eastmond, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Employers must provide workers performing roofing activities with appropriate fall protection to help ensure their safety.”
OSHA conducted the inspections in conjunction with the agency’s Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction.
Earlier this month, OSHA fined a Florida roofing contractor $64,974 for exposing employees to fall hazards on a project in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. The agency said it cited Lake Worth-based Garabar Inc for allowing workers to make repairs to a roof without fall protection.
It also fined an Alabama sewer and water utilities contractor $34,476 earlier this month following cave-in violations on a project in Opelika.
Last month, OSHA fined a Missouri contractor $210,037 for failing to protect employees from trench collapse and electrical hazards.
OSHA also fined a south Florida contractor $185,239 for exposing employees to excavation and confined spaces hazards after a fatality at a project in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
OSHA fined two Florida roofing contractors a combined total of $83,348 for exposing employees to struck-by and fall hazards at a project in Greenacres, Florida, in October.
OSHA had fined a Escatawpa, Mississippi-based contractor $161,771 for excavation and cave-in violations also last month.
A 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released in December showed that the rate of fatal injuries in the construction industry increased 6% in 2016 to 991 worker deaths compared with 937 in 2015.
BLS figures showed that falls, struck by objects, electrocutions and caught-in/between accounted for 63.7% of all construction worker deaths in last year. There was a rise in total construction worker deaths for each of the “Fatal Four” in 2016.