Region 4 News Release: 13-788-ATL (89)
May 02, 2013
Contact: Michael D'Aquino Lindsay Williams
Phone: 404-562-2076 404-562-2078
Email: d'aquino.michael@dol.gov williams.lindsay.l@dol.gov

Collis Roofing Inc. cited by the US Department of Labor's OSHA for exposing
workers to fall and other hazards; more than $200,000 in proposed penalties

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Longwood-based Collis Roofing Inc. with three willful and one serious safety violation for exposing workers to fall and other hazards while they were performing roofing work at three residential sites in Jacksonville, Oviedo and Palm Harbor. Two inspections were initiated in November 2012 and a third in December 2012 after OSHA inspectors observed employees without fall protection. These inspections were all part of the agency's local emphasis program on fall hazards in construction. Proposed penalties total $213,300.

Three willful violations, with $210,000 in penalties, involve the employer allowing employees to work on elevated surfaces without fall protection. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

One serious violation, with a $3,300 penalty, was also cited for failing to inspect a fall harness that had previously been involved in an impact event. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

"When fall protection is absent, workers are only steps away from a serious injury or death," said Teresa Harrison, OSHA's acting regional administrator for the Southeast. "Employers must ensure that workers have and wear the proper equipment at all times."

The citations can be viewed at

http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/CollisRoofingInc_769902_0501_13.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/CollisRoofingInc_739143_0501_13.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/CollisRoofingInc_721522_0501_13.pdf*

OSHA has created a fall prevention Web page at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls with detailed information in English and Spanish on fall protection standards. The page offers fact sheets, posters and videos that vividly illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures.

OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are working with trade associations, labor unions, employers, universities, community and faith-based organizations, and consulates to provide employers and workers, especially vulnerable, low-literacy workers, with education and training on common-sense fall prevention equipment and strategies that save lives.

Collis Roofing Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Jacksonville Area Office at 904-232-2895.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 216-893-7828 or TTY 216-893-7755.

* Accessibility Assistance Contact OSHA's Office of Communications at 202-693-1999 for assistance accessing PDF materials.