Essex County gutter and roof cleaning company again fails to provide workers with fall protection at Bergen County worksites

Employer name: Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning and General Contracting Inc., at 11 Daniel Road East in Fairfield, New Jersey.

The inspected worksites were 349 Windsor Terrace in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and 728 9th Street in Carlstadt, New Jersey.

Citations issued: On November 24, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for two repeat and four serious violations.

Investigation findings: OSHA initiated a safety inspection on May 26, 2015, in response to a complaint alleging employees were working on a roof without fall protection. A second inspection began on Oct. 19, 2015, when an OSHA compliance officer observed workers washing a roof without fall protection.

The repeat violations involved employees being allowed to work from heights without fall protection. Ned Stevens was cited for these same violations in 2013 and 2014.

Employees exposed to electrical hazards, lack of eye and face protection while spraying chemicals on a roof, and a written respiratory protection program not established and implemented were cited among the serious violations.

Proposed penalties: $108,200

Quote: "Ned Stevens was previously cited for allowing employees to work on roofs without fall protection. This company has once again jeopardized worker safety by failing to provide the appropriate equipment to prevent injuries and save lives, which is intolerable," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "The fall season is a busy time for gutter cleaning. It is crucial for Ned Stevens to acknowledge its responsibility to ensure a safe and healthful workplace, or be prepared to be held legally responsible for failing to do so."

View the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/NedStevensGutterCleaning_GeneralContractorsInc_1065587_1099772.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 Hasbrouck Heights Area Office at (201) 288-1700.