A Tampa, Florida, framing contractor with a history of safety violations faces $464,079 in new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for 3 willful violations and 1 repeat violation, the agency announced March 28.
On September 24, 2022, OSHA inspectors observed employees of Domingos 54 Construction Inc. without fall safety gear while working atop a 15-foot-high residential roof.
Since February 2019, OSHA has completed 11 inspections of the employer’s worksites and identified 4 willful, 8 repeat, 19 serious, and 4 other-than-serious violations, many of them related to a lack of worker fall protection. In March 2020, a 53-year-old employee of Domingos 54 suffered a fatal, 10-foot fall from the roof of a Tampa residence.
“In 2020, Domingos 54 Construction’s failures led to a tragedy that cost a worker his life. Yet here we are in 2023, and they continue to put profits before the safety and well-being of the people they employ,” Danelle Jindra, OSHA’s Tampa area office director, said in an agency statement. “This is an egregious case of an employer who knows better, but whose actions show they just don’t care. OSHA will continue to hold employers accountable for knowingly placing their employees in harm’s way.”
During the September inspection, OSHA learned the company still had not trained employees to make sure they had a clear understanding of the means and methods to control fall hazards and found employees continuing to use pneumatic nail guns, hammers, and portal circular saws without required eye protection.
OSHA’s construction industry fall protection standard remains the agency’s most frequently cited standard year after year. The agency cited the standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1926.501) 5,260 times in fiscal year 2022.
Wisconsin roofers cited for fall protection violations
OSHA cited an Appleton, Wisconsin, roofer and its subcontractor for fall protection violations, the agency announced March 28. Security-Luebke Roofing Inc. faces $140,633 in proposed penalties for a willful violation of federal fall protection requirements. Jesus Robles Hernandez, operating as JJ Roofing Co., faces proposed penalties totaling $28,126 for 1 repeat and 1 serious violation.
In October 2022, OSHA inspectors observed at least nine workers employed by JJ Roofing exposed to fall hazards. Representatives of Security-Luebke were on-site while the subcontractor’s employees were at risk.
The agency cited Security-Luebke Roofing and JJ Roofing for violating federal fall protection requirements. Inspectors also found that Security-Luebke failed to conduct a comprehensive site audit and make sure its subcontractor’s employees used required fall protection. OSHA cited JJ Roofing for not training its workers on fall protection equipment and its safe use—a violation the company was cited for in both 2018 and 2020, as well.
“Despite their assurances that they would comply with federal requirements, Security-Luebke and JJ Roofing have continually endangered their employees’ safety and well-being,” Robert Bonack, OSHA’s Appleton area director, said in an agency statement. “General contractors like Security-Luebke must make sure their employees and those employed by their subcontractors are protected from job site hazards.”