Pennsylvania Roofing Contractor Fined $605,371 for Exposing Employees to Fall Hazards
OSHA has cited Webb Contractor Corp. for exposing workers to fall hazards at three worksites in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The roofing contractor faces $605,371 in penalties.
OSHA has cited Webb Contractor Corp. for exposing workers to fall hazards at three worksites in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The roofing contractor faces $605,371 in penalties.
OSHA initially inspected one of the company’s worksites on September 6, 2019, after a compliance officer observed employees performing residential roofing work without fall protection at a worksite in Macungie, Pennsylvania. The employer then voluntarily agreed to remove employees from the hazardous conditions.
However, OSHA responded to later complaints of fall hazards and initiated two additional inspections: one on October 1, 2019 at a site in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and one on October 11, 2019 at a site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
After these three inspections, OSHA cited the company for a total of eight willful, two repeat, and three serious safety violations for failure to provide fall protection and exposing employees to safety hazards.
“Employers must ensure that employees working from heights are provided and wear proper fall protection,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Loren Sweatt. “OSHA has educational resources readily available to help employers understand how to comply with the law.”
OSHA provides fall protection resources, including compliance assistance resources on reducing falls during residential construction on its Fall Protection in Residential Construction webpage.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties (view here, here, and here) to comply, request an information conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.