Ohio contractor continues to risk safety of siding installers

AVON, Ohio ‒ Each time a worker mounts a scaffold they risk a dangerous fall, the leading causing of death in the construction industry. One in four who died working in the construction industry in 2014 died in a fall.

Seven times since 2007, U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors have found Holmes Siding Contractors failed to protect its workers from fall hazards. On March 7, the agency issued one willful, and two serious safety citations to the Millersburg company and proposed $69,300 in penalties after its most recent inspection on Feb. 2, 2016. 

OSHA investigators observed employees that day at an Avon residential work site exposed to falls of about 15 feet above ground as they worked on improperly constructed ladder-jack scaffolds. The workers wore no safety harnesses or had safety nets below them as required.

“The company owner, site foreman and employees participated in comprehensive scaffold training after the previous citations, so Holmes Siding Company is keenly aware of the requirements and need for fall protection,” said Kim Nelson, OSHA’s area director in Toledo. “OSHA will continue to monitor this employer for compliance, and do everything in its power to keep workers safely out of life-threatening working conditions.”

OSHA also noted that employees were using nail guns without eye protection.

To assist employers and employers on preventing falls, OSHA offers a Stop Falls online resource with detailed information in English and Spanish on fall protection standards. The page provides fact sheets, posters and videos that illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures. OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection be in use when workers perform construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level.

The agency’s ongoing Fall Prevention Campaign was developed in partnership with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH’s National Occupational Research Agenda program. Begun in 2012, the campaign provides employers with lifesaving information and educational materials on how to prevent falls, provide the right equipment for workers and train employees to use gear properly.

View current citations.

Holmes Siding Contractors 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 Toledo office at 419-259-7542.

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.