Region 4 News Release: 12-2057-ATL (366)
Oct. 30, 2012
Contact: Michael D'Aquino
Phone: 404-562-2076
Email: d'aquino.michael@dol.gov

GP Roofing & Construction of Palm Coast, Fla., cited by US Department
of Labor's OSHA for exposing workers to fall, other hazards

ST. JOHNS, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Palm Coast-based GP Roofing & Construction LLC with three willful safety violations for exposing workers to fall and other hazards while they were conducting roofing work at a new residential site in the Aberdeen subdivision of St. Johns. OSHA initiated an inspection in June as part of the agency's Local Emphasis Program on Fall Hazards in Construction. Proposed penalties total $72,600.

The violations involve failing to provide eye protection for workers using pneumatic nail guns, fall protection for workers installing roofing materials on steep-pitched roofs, and a safe means for workers to access and exit a 19-foot-high roof. 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.

"The danger of fall hazards cannot be overstated. Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry," said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA's area director in Jacksonville. "When fall protection is absent, workers are only steps away from a deadly or disabling plunge. This employer must take effective steps to ensure that proper safeguards are in place and in use at all job sites."

In April, OSHA began a campaign to provide employers and workers with lifesaving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs in an effort to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry. In 2010, more than 10,000 construction workers were injured as a result of falling while working from heights, and more than 250 were killed. The campaign was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda program. More information on fall protection standards is available in English and Spanish at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls.

The company 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.