Falls are preventable with the proper use of harnesses, fall arrest systems, and properly installed anchors that have been standard safety requirements for years. Yet, many companies continue to send their employees on to roofs at heights above four feet without the safety gear.

In the last four months, L&I has issued $1.4 million in fines to five construction companies for violating fall protection rules.

Roof Doctor cited for repeat fall protection violations
The most recent citation and fine for $82,620 was issued Dec. 29 to Roof Doctor Inc. of Olympia for one willful serious, one repeat serious, and two serious violations for hazards including roofers not wearing fall protection while working on a two-story home last August in Olympia.

Additionally, Roof Doctor was cited and fined $110,160 Dec. 18 for four repeat serious violations for workers not wearing fall protection at a Tumwater strip mall. The company is appealing both cases.

Roof Doctor has a long history of L&I injury claims. In the past two decades, the company has filed 393 injury claims, leading to more than $4.9 million in medical care and wage replacement for the state workers’ compensation fund.

Asset Roofing was the most frequently fined company of the bunch
Asset Roofing Company LLC was fined four times in September for not ensuring workers wore fall protection, not using ladders correctly, and a lack of fall protection training at four different locations.

Some of their workers were wearing harnesses attached to ropes with improperly installed anchors that would not hold if they fell.

The fines in the four inspections totaled nearly $720,000 and included several repeat willful serious and repeat serious violations. Asset Roofing is appealing all four citations: Edmonds, Lake Forest Park, Lake Stevens, and Snohomish.

Other fall protection violators
Other companies facing notable citations from L&I for fall protection violations over the last several months include:

• Valentine Roofing (Seattle): Fined $148,716 for two repeat serious violations Dec. 3 after inspectors saw at least one employee working near the edge of the roof with such a long rope he would have hit the ground if he fell. The worker's anchor point was not positioned above him, which also risked him swinging as he fell, hitting other objects and causing him serious injury. The company is appealing the citation and fine.
  
  
• DaBella (Vancouver): Cited Dec. 23 for a repeat willful serious violation and fined $134,640 for not protecting its subcontractor's employees from exposure to falls during a roofing job. The company has 15 business days to appeal the citation and fine. 

• Modern S Construction LLC (Buckley): Fined $258,514 for two repeat willful serious fall protection violations and two repeat general violations Oct. 15. The company has had six inspections in the past three years where it was cited for not protecting its workers from falls. It did not appeal the most recent citation and fine.

All of these companies, with the exception of Roof Doctor and Modern S Construction, are part of L&I’s Severe Violators Enforcement Program (SVEP). Employers in the program are subject to increased scrutiny from L&I compliance. The DaBella inspection was an SVEP follow-up inspection.

“The companies on the SVEP list have demonstrated plain indifference to safety rules by knowingly and repeatedly ignoring them,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director of L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

“Unfortunately, it’s not surprising to see them breaking the rules again,” said Blackwood. “We’ll continue to use all the tools we have to encourage them to do the right thing.”

Preventing falls in construction
Employers bear the ultimate responsibility to make sure their workers use fall protection or guardrail systems while working above four feet in height.

Information and training are key to preventing falls. L&I has a digital fall protection 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.