Roofing Contractor cited for exposing workers to fall hazards

Employer's name: Peak Roofing Inc. in Abilene, Texas

Citations issued: Oct. 21, 2015

Investigation findings: The company was cited for one willful violation for exposing workers at a jobsite in Abilene, Texas, to falls from heights greater than six feet without providing fall protection. Peak Roofing has been cited for exposing workers to fall hazards at three different workplace locations in Texas since 2011. In May, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened the investigation after receiving a complaint. As part of a nationwide outreach campaign, OSHA is working to raise awareness among workers and employers about the hazards of falls from ladders, scaffolds and roofs.

Proposed Penalties: $53,900

Quote: "Falls in construction are preventable. It is the employer's responsibility to plan ahead to provide the right equipment and train everyone to use the equipment safely," said Elizabeth Linda Routh, OSHA's area director in Lubbock.

View citations at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Peak_Roofing_Inc_1060778_1019_15.pdf.

Information: Peak Roofing, a roofing contractor headquartered in Houston, has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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 Lubbock District Office at 806-472-7681.