Roofing Contractor Cited in Worker's 15-Foot Fall
The Rhode Island area director said the company "well know the requirement for fall protection whenever employees work" at 6 feet or higher.
OSHA has cited Miranda Roofing Inc., a Fall River, Mass., roofing and siding contractor, for an alleged willful violation of safety standards after a worker was injured when he fell 15 feet from a ladder at a Portsmouth, R.I., jobsite.
Miranda Roofing faces the maximum proposed fine of $70,000 for failing to provide fall protection for employees working atop a roof in Portsmouth. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.
"We found employees working without any form of fall protection at heights up to 15 feet, even though this employer well knows the requirement for fall protection whenever employees work at heights of 6 feet or above," said Patrick Griffin, OSHA's area director for Rhode Island. "We've proposed the maximum fine because of the severity of this hazard and this employer's repeated history of failing to ensure fall protection for workers at other jobsites."
Prior to this inspection, OSHA cited the company five times since 2005 for roofing fall protection hazards at worksites in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Detailed information on fall protection hazards and safeguards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/index.html.
"Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work," Griffin said. "Each time the employer fails to provide fall protection, the employees are exposed to potential death or disabling injury."
Miranda Roofing has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, meet with OSHA or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.