ConDig (30-Jun-22).  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a Texas contractor $223,341 after a 21-year-old worker fell to his death.

Inspectors from the agency found that Burleson contractor Shielder Ventures LLC – which operates as D&G Quality Roofing – failed to provide the worker with a personal fall arrest system.

OSHA issued citations for two willful violations for failing to provide fall arrest systems and a serious violation for failing to train employees on using the safety equipment properly

In November, OSHA issued D&G Quality Roofing a citation for the same violation after an inspection at a work site near Austin.

“Despite receiving an OSHA citation a month prior for not protecting its workers from falls – the construction industry’s leading cause of fatalities – D&G Quality Roofing ignored its obligation and exposed workers to danger, resulting in a preventable tragedy,” said OSHA area director Mhekeba Hager in Houston. 

“Had this young worker’s employer required the use of a personal fall arrest system, a family would not be grieving this terrible loss.”

The worker suffered fatal injuries after falling about 30 feet through a skylight atop a Houston building.

Shielder Ventures LLC is a commercial restoration and repair roofing company and employs 12 workers, five of whom were at the work site during the fatal incident.

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

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 351 of the 1,008 construction workers who died on the job in 2020 were victims of falls from elevation

In May, OSHA has fined an Illinois contractor $263,226 for fall violations. 

Following an investigation at a Park Ridge residential construction site last November, the agency said that Emerald Inc. had exposed a foreman and a roofer to deadly fall hazards as they worked at heights of up to 22 feet above the ground with inadequate fall protection.

In March, OSHA fined a Colorado-based contractor $198,893 for serious trenching safety violations.