Kabco Builders Inc., a Boaz, Alabama, mobile home manufacturer, received an $81,463 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fine following an employee’s fatal fall, the agency announced June 20.
Investigators determined that an employee was alone loading shingles as they straddled a 2-foot-wide space between a platform and a mobile home’s roof when they slipped and fell approximately 10 feet.
The agency cited Kabco Builders with 10 serious violations for safety lapses that included:
- Not providing fall protection,
- Failure to train workers performing roof work at heights of 4 feet or more,
- Not providing training to workers who operate forklifts,
- Not requiring workers who apply adhesives to wear personal protective equipment (PPE), and
- Not training them on the hazards of the chemicals they use.
“As falls from heights continue to be the leading cause of fatalities and serious injuries in all industries, employers like Kabco Builders must know and understand the importance of fall protection standards and related training,” Joel Batiz, OSHA’s Birmingham, Alabama, area office director, said in an agency statement. “Following these well-established safety requirements can mean the difference between an employer seeing its worker ending a shift safely or having to watch as a worker’s family, friends and co-workers grieve a needless tragedy.”
Kabco Builders Inc. abated the cited hazards and paid the penalty, according to OSHA.