ConDig (19-Jan-24) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a Florida roofing contractor and a homebuilder for fall hazards on a project in Boca Raton.
The agency said it cited All Phase Roofing with three repeat violations for not utilizing fall protection, failing to have a competent person provide an inspection of a worksite to ensure employees use the proper safety equipment before work begins. It also cited the company for allowing employees to perform roofing work before training them to recognize hazards and the proper use of fall protection equipment.
The agency said that All Phase Roofing was also cited with three serious violations for allowing workers to use an interior staircase not equipped with a stair rail at the open edge, allowing workers to use the fly section of an extension ladder to access a roof, and for not having a competent person train workers on the proper use, set up and hazards associated with ladders.
OSHA proposed $159,117 in penalties for All Phase Roofing.
In addition, OSHA fined Lennar Homes $8,929 for one serious violation for failing to have a competent person inspect the worksite to ensure employees have the proper safety equipment and that all stairwells inside the structure have stair rails before they are used.
“Falls in construction is still the number one killer of workers, and it is irresponsible for All Phase Roofing to allow its employees to work on roofs unprotected. These types of hazards are well known, yet we still find employers subjecting their workers to dangerous and life-threatening work conditions,” said OSHA area office director Condell Eastmond in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“General contractors also have a responsibility, as Lennar Homes did here, to take the necessary steps to ensure that its subcontractors maintain safe worksites.”
In November, OSHA fined a Wisconsin roofing contractor $180,469 for failing to protect employees and subcontractors from deadly fall hazards.
The agency said inspectors observed employees from Suamico-based Overhead Solutions LLC working about 30 feet above ground on a Menasha apartment complex roof without adequate fall protection.
Falls in construction continue to be a leading cause of work-related fatalities. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 700 fatalities in 2022 due to falls to lower level, a 2.9 percent increase from 680 fatalities the year before. Since 2012, OSHA has partnered with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and National Occupational Research Agenda – Construction Sector on the Fall Prevention Campaign to raise awareness among workers and employers about common fall hazards in construction, and how falls from ladders, scaffolds and roofs can be prevented
Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator witnessed a group of All Phase Roofing employees – without fall protection – installing roofing membrane on the roofs of garages attached to two residential structures in Boca Raton.