ConDig (23-Feb-18). An Illinois-based roofing contractor faces fines of $281,286 after exposing workers to fall hazards on six Chicago-area residential roofing projects.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said it had cited Gallardo’s Construction Services and its owner Manuel Gallardo following site inspections in August and November last year.

The agency said that Manuel Gallardo, whose business is based in Palatine, was cited for four willful and three repeated violations for failing to install fall protection systems; ensure the use of protective devices and train workers in fall protection hazards.

OSHA also cited Gallardo for nine serious violations for allowing employees to use nail guns without eye protection and failing to conduct jobsite inspections.

“Employers are required to provide safe workplaces for their employees,” said Kathy Webb, OSHA’s Chicago south area office director.

“This employer’s continual disregard of fall protection requirements is exposing employees to potentially serious injuries.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings.

Last month, Huntsville, Alabama-based concrete contractor Action Concrete Construction Inc was slapped with fines of $59,864 for exposing workers on a site in Florida to fall hazards and eye injuries.

In December, a 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 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.