OSHA cites Chaney Roofing Maintenance for exposing workers to fall hazards

Employer name: Chaney Roofing Maintenance Inc. 7040 State Route 101 Clyde, Ohio

Investigation site: 10300 W. US-224 Findlay, Ohio

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Toledo Area Office issued a safety citation to Chaney Roofing Maintenance Inc., July 22. OSHA opened an investigation of the contractor after observing workers exposed to fall hazards while roofing an Art-Van Furniture Store, June 16.

Investigation findings: OSHA issued one willful safety violation for exposing workers to fall hazards of up to 20 feet because the company failed to require the use of fall protection.

The company has been cited for this violation at in April 2015 after a worker was hospitalized as a result of injuries received in a fall in Norwalk. The company was also cited in January 2013 for fall hazards in Port Clinton.

Quote: "This is the third time the company has been cited for fall related hazards within the past two and a half years, this company is knowingly putting its' employee's lives at risk and it is simply unacceptable," said Kim Nelson, OSHA's Area Director in Toledo. A worker can be severely injured or killed in a fall in mere seconds. Falls remain the leading cause of death in the construction industry."

Proposed Penalties: $46,200.

View Citations: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151378fs.pdf

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 Toledo Area Office at 419-259-7542.