A Quincy roofing contractor, accused in 2016 of putting workers at risk at a Haverhill church, has been cited again for exposing workers to fatal falls at Boston worksite.
Inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday it cited Roof Kings for fall-related violations for the fifth time since 2014. The agency said the company “exposed workers on the roofs of a garage and house in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood to potentially fatal falls from heights between seven and 21 feet.”
“The Roof Kings LLC continues to ignore the law and willfully expose its employees to falls,” said OSHA Area Director James Mulligan. “This employer’s repeated violations show an indefensible and inexcusable pattern of disregard for employees’ safety. OSHA will continue to take strong enforcement actions against such employers.”
Roof Kings contested the findings to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
During February of 2016, OSHA inspectors from Andover found Roof Kings’ employees working without fall protection atop the steep-pitched roof of Brookridge Community Church, at 232 Main St., Haverhill. Workers also lacked fall protection as they worked on a lower, sloped roof and on ladders that did not extend at least three feet above landings for required stability.
After the recent Boston investigation, OSHA cited the contractor for, what it said in a release, were “four willful and two serious violations of workplace safety standards.” OSHA proposed $137,196 in penalties. It said the contractor failed to provide adequate fall protection for employees working at heights of seven to 21 feet, effectively train employees to recognize and minimize fall hazards, extend a ladder at least three feet above an upper landing surface accessed by employees and ensure employees carrying construction materials as they climbed a ladder to access a work zone could grasp the ladder with at least one hand.
OSHA said the employer also did not provide hardhats to workers to protect them from falling construction debris and materials and failed to have a competent person conduct frequent and regular inspections of the jobsite, materials and equipment to identify and address potential hazards.
OSHA said falls are the leading cause of death in construction work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020, there were 351 fatal falls to a lower level out of 1,008 construction fatalities.