Roofing contractor willfully exposes workers to dangerous fall hazards at two Northern Florida work sites; OSHA proposes nearly $200K in fines

Employer name: Chris Sawdo Construction LLC

Inspection sites: 548 Colorado Springs Way, St. Augustine, Florida 32092
478 Heron Landing Road, St. Johns, Florida 32259

Citations issued: OSHA issued citations to the employer on Sept. 09, 2016.  

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted two separate inspections of Chris Sawdo Construction job sites at Samara Lakes in St. Augustine and the Durbin Crossing subdivision in St. Johns. Inspectors observed employees installing roofing sheathing without fall protection and initiated the inspections under the agency’s Regional Emphasis Program on Falls in Construction.

OSHA issued the company two willful, one repeated and one serious safety violation. The willful citations are related to the employer’s failure to protect workers with a fall protection system when working from heights up to 20 feet. The repeated violation involves not properly extending a roof access ladder above the landing surface. The agency also cited Sawdo with a serious citation for failing to set-up a roof access ladder with the proper angle.

Background: OSHA has cited the employer previously six times since 2004 for willful, repeat and serious violations for a lack of fall protection and ladder safety.

Proposed penalties: $199,107

Quote: “Chris Sawdo Construction continues to willfully ignore OSHA’s fall protection standards, despite an extensive OSHA history, being suspended as a subcontractor by homebuilders and being in the residential construction industry for 20 years,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville. “The employer must take immediate action to eliminate putting workers at risk of serious injury or death.”

The citations can be viewed at:

• https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/ChrisSawdoConstruction_1132824.pdf
• https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/ChrisSawdoConstruction_1140057.pdf

Based in Middleburg, Chris Sawdo Construction is a residential roofing contractor. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a 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 Jacksonville Area Office at 904-232-2895.