OSHA finds Middlesex contractor exposed workers to fall hazards after investigation of roofer’s death at Parsippany jobsite

Employers name:  S&S Roofing Inc., 2 Self Blvd., Carteret, New Jersey 

Inspection site: 71 Walsh Drive, Parsippany, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Feb. 17, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and three serious violations.

Investigation findings: OSHA opened an investigation on Aug. 24, 2015 after receiving a referral from the Parsippany Police Department after a worker fell from the roof of a warehouse. The investigation was also conducted under the agency’s local emphasis program for falls in construction.

OSHA inspectors found that S&S Roofing failed to provide workers with the proper fall protection, resulting in one repeat violation. The company was cited for a similar repeat violation in 2011, and has been cited 10 times since 2000 for comparable offenses.

The investigation determined that the victim who fell was using a manually operated roof hoist to lower his tool bags to the ground that caused the hoist to tip and go over the edge of the roof. As it tipped, the hoist’s boom hit the man and he fell over the roof’s edge to the pavement approximately 25 feet below. The victim succumbed to his injuries, dying six days later.

Proposed penalties: $43,080                                        

Quote:  “This tragic incident and unnecessary loss of a life could have been prevented had S&S Roofing properly protected its workers against falls, the leading cause of death in the construction industry,” said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office. “Compounding the tragedy, the hoist’s manufacturer warns: ‘Never use roof process materials as counterweight.’ We determined S&S Roofing regularly used roofing materials to counterweight the hoist regardless of the warning. Workers should not have to risk their lives needlessly for the sake of a paycheck.” 

View the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/S-and-S_Roofing_Inc_1088219_0217_16.pdf

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Parsippany Area Office at 973-263-1003.