The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) received notice that a worker was injured when his fall protection rope failed to stop him from hitting the ground. L&I opened an inspection, but had to issue a subpoena to force Asset Roofing Company to share the address of the incident. When inspectors got to the scene, it had been altered — and only a portion of the rope involved in the incident was left hanging from the roof on the back of the house.

Asset Roofing’s owner said the fall protection rope broke, causing the roofer to fall to the ground. L&I’s investigation revealed something much different.

Inspectors determined the roofer slipped on the underlayment, triggering the fall, but with too much slack in the rope, he hit the ground without activating any part of the fall protection system. Unlike a rope that had broken, this rope was not frayed. Rather, it appeared to have been cut after the worker fell. A local fall protection system manufacturer agreed with the agency’s findings.

“The owner of Asset Roofing would rather blame the equipment, but after eight fall protection violations in four years, it’s clear this worker was hurt by a blatant disregard for safety,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “Next time, we could be talking about a fatality.”

Inspectors also found the rope was manufactured to have a minimum breaking strength of 3,600 pounds instead of the required 5,000 pounds. “Even if there hadn’t been too much slack in the rope, it was not strong enough for the task,” said Blackwood.

Hundreds of thousands in fines and unpaid premiums

In addition to the $322,646 in fines for this recent citation, Asset Roofing owes L&I more than half a million dollars for past safety violations, unpaid industrial insurance premiums, and wage payment violations.

Past safety violations include roofers not wearing fall protection while working at heights of 16 feet or more, near unguarded skylights, above steel spikes lining the top portion of a fence, and above rebar sticking out of the ground below.

The company is appealing the latest citation.

Preventing falls in construction

Information and training are key to preventing this type of workplace tragedy. L&I has a fall protection digital tool to help employers and workers learn fall protection rules and other ways to stay safe on the job. If you see roofers working without fall protection, you can report it anonymously online or call L&I at 1-800-423-7733.

Money collected from fines goes into the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping workers and families of those who have died on the job.