US Department of Labor reaches settlement agreement that affirms willful violations, $730K penalty against ‘severe violator’ Ohio roofing contractor

WHEELING, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement to resolve litigation following a March 2022 investigation at a work site in Wheeling that resulted in a dozen citations issued against an Ohio-based contractor with an extensive history of exposing workers to deadly falls.

The settlement agreement between the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Charm Builders Ltd. affirms 12 citations issued by OSHA – six egregious-willful, five repeat and one serious – and the corresponding $730,000 in penalties that the company must pay along with enhanced compliance measures.

The citations followed an inspection on March 29, 2022, after OSHA received a complaint that alleged Charm Builders did not provide fall protection to workers replacing a roof atop a two-story office building in Wheeling. OSHA cited the contractor for failing to ensure the use of fall protection and safety glasses, allowing unsafe use of portable ladders and failing to provide training to employees on fall hazards.

This marks the 12th time that the agency has cited Charm Builders since 2009 for violations related to fall hazards. OSHA placed the contractor on its severe violators list in 2022. 

“This employer’s history of defying federal safety standards and continuously jeopardizing workers’ safety is simply unacceptable,” said OSHA Area Director Blake McEnany in Charleston, West Virginia.

As part of the settlement agreement, Charm Builders Ltd. must also employ enhanced abatement measures that include the following:

• Hire a safety consultant to evaluate the company’s safety program and then submit the plan to OSHA.
• Make all improvements recommended in the report.
• Accept unannounced monthly audits conducted by the safety consultant at the company’s work sites and written reports submitted to the employer which the employer must retain.
• Inform OSHA of all its current and future work sites and allow entry for investigators.
• Not oppose the entry of a Section 11(b) order of enforcement.

 “The litigation and settlement agreement demonstrates the Department of Labor’s commitment to holding employers legally accountable who egregiously expose workers to the risks of serious injury or worse from deadly falls hazards,” said Acting Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia.

Based in Millersburg, Ohio, Charm Builders Ltd. is a roofing and siding contractor that works throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.