Bloomer, Wisconsin, roofing contractor endangers workers, ignores safety regulations

BLOOMER, Wis. — For the fourth time in three years, a Bloomer roofing contractor was found ignoring laws — twice by federal inspectors and twice by state inspectors — and putting them at risk by allowing them to work without fall protection equipment. In the latest instance, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors observed seven Affordable Exteriors LLC employees working at heights of up to 25 feet at a Weston residential site without fall protection equipment.

OSHA issued the company two willful, one repeated and three serious safety citations which they received Npv. 20. Proposed penalties from the agency's April 2015 inspection total $112,200.

This is the fourth time OSHA has cited Affordable Exteriors for not providing fall protection at job sites in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 2014, OSHA and Minnesota OSHA cited the company for failing to provide fall protection at residential sites in Marshfield and Duluth, Minnesota. The company was also cited in 2013 for violations in Duluth. The business has not responded to OSHA and Minnesota OSHA to resolve the citations and penalties.

"Many people have told Affordable Exteriors to use fall protection — OSHA, Minnesota OSHA and the job-site contractor. The company ignored them all," said Robert Bonack, OSHA's area director in Appleton. "That's a reckless disregard for safety. Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction injury. Three Wisconsin workers died last year from job-site falls."

View current citations here.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings 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 Appleton Area Office at 920-734-4521.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.