U.S. Department of Labor Fines Roofing Contractor $605,371 For Exposing Employees to Fall Hazards at 3 Pennsylvania Worksites

BALA CYNWYD, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Webb Contractor Corp. for exposing employees to fall hazards at three separate worksites in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, area. The roofing contractor, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, faces $605,371 in penalties.

OSHA initiated an inspection on September 6, 2019, after a compliance officer observed employees performing residential roofing work without fall protection at a worksite in Macungie, Pennsylvania. The employer voluntarily agreed to remove employees from the hazardous condition. OSHA later responded to complaints of fall hazards, and initiated two additional inspections; one on October 1, 2019, at a worksite in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and the other on October 11, 2019, at a worksite in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Following the three inspections, OSHA cited the company for eight willful, two repeat, and three serious safety violations for failure to provide fall protection and exposing employees to safety hazards.

“Employers must ensure that employees working from heights are provided and wear proper fall protection,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Loren Sweatt. “OSHA has educational resources readily available to help employers understand how to comply with the law.”

OSHA’s Fall Protection in Residential Construction webpage provides compliance assistance resources on reducing falls during residential construction.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties (view here, here, and here) to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.