As a homeowner, you’d probably do nearly anything in your power to protect your house and your family from harm. For instance, installing a metal roof can safeguard your home from weather-related damage because the materials have a 140 miles per hour wind rating.
But what about the skilled workers who are responsible for that roof installation? They need to be protected from hazardous conditions, too. The Occupational Health and Safety Association (or OSHA) has strict regulations about working conditions for employees. This is especially necessary for workers whose job sites present daily dangers, like construction and roofing employees.
Most employers want to provide the safest possible conditions for their workers, but others simply don’t seem to care — or learn their lesson. Home Live Roofing LLC of Marietta, GA has been repeatedly cited for exposing its workers to job hazards. This marks the sixth time OSHA has cited the company for a lack of adequate fall protection and other failures.
Hazards at the Warminster, PA inspection site resulted in $101,121 in penalties for the company. The various citations included a willful safety violation wherein the contractor failed to provide fall protection when employees worked 18 feet above a lower level. Other repeat violations included failure to enforce the use of protected eyewear and an improperly set extension ladder. Because fuel storage was not equipped with a fire extinguisher, OSHA issued a serious safety violation.
OSHA says that Home Live Roofing was cited for similar hazards over the last four years. In the last two and a half years alone, Home Life was cited five times by OSHA offices in both Georgia and Missouri for fall protection hazard violations. Only four weeks ago, Home Live received citations resulting in nearly $30,000 worth in penalties.
Director of OSHA’s Allentown Area Office, Jean Kulp, was quoted as saying that “fall protection is a basic yet critical employer-provided safeguard that protects workers from being injured or killed on the job.” This is especially vital in industries like construction, where falls represent the leading cause of injury and death.