ConDig (23-Mar-20).  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a Florida-based roofing contractor $114,294 for exposing workers to fall hazards at two worksites in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

The agency cited Melbourne-based Turnkey Construction Planners Inc for failing to ensure employees used a fall protection system while engaged in roofing activities and not requiring that portable ladders extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing. 

OSHA said it had cited the company six times in the past five years for similar hazards.

“Employers have a duty to provide a workplace free of recognizable hazards. Roofing contractors can mitigate risks for their workers by ensuring all employees use approved fall protection systems,” said OSHA Fort Lauderdale area office director Condell Eastmond. “Employers can contact their local OSHA office for assistance in making their worksites safe.”

OSHA initiated the inspections in September last year as part of the Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction after inspectors observed employees working on roofs without fall protection. 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Last month, a former owner of a Florida-based framing contractor was prisoned for 30 days following the death of a worker on residential project in Naples.

OSHA fined two Alabama contractors $88,482 for excavation violations on a residential project in Hoover, Alabama, in January. 

In December, the agency fined a Florida roofing contractor $146,280 for exposing employees to fall hazards on projects in Palm Beach Gardens and Port Saint Lucie, Florida.