OSHA again cites Tip Top Roofing for failing to provide workers fall protection

Employer name: Tip Top Roofing & Construction 2030 Coltonville Road, Sycamore, Illinois

Investigation site: 161 John Street, DeKalb, Illinois

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Nov. 4, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Aurora Area Office initiated an inspection of roofing contractor Tip Top Roofing & Construction Inc. after receiving a complaint alleging workers were exposed to fall hazards at a residential jobsite in DeKalb.

Investigation findings: OSHA issued two willful and four serious violations for exposing workers to falls and other hazards while re-roofing an existing residence.

Two willful violations cite the company for:

• Exposing workers to fall hazards of about 22 feet because the company failed to provide fall protection
• Failing to extend a ladder at least three feet above the landing to provide safe roof access

Four serious violations involve allowing employees to perform roofing work in close proximity to energized power lines, lack of personal protective equipment and allowing employees to carry loads of plywood and other roofing materials while climbing ladders. The company has been cited multiple times since 2008 for fall safety violations. The most recent citations were issued in 2013.

Quote: "A roofer can fall to his death in mere seconds. By refusing to provide fall protection to its workers, Tip Top Roofing and Construction is gambling with workers' lives and livelihood — and that is unacceptable," said Jacob Scott, OSHA's Area Director in Aurora. "With everything we know about how to work safely, it's troubling to see how many workers are still injured every year in the construction trades, and particularly from falls."

Each year 38,000 construction injuries are reported. Fatal falls, slips, or trips took the lives of 699 workers in 2013. Falls to a lower level accounted for 574 of those fatalities. About half of the 1.6 million Americans employed in the construction industry, work in residential construction.

To view citations see: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TipTopRoofing_1006396_0429_15.pdf

Proposed Penalties: $124,780.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report 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 Aurora Area Office at 630-896-8700.