Region 4 News Release: 13-2263-ATL (310)
Dec. 10, 2013
Contact: Lindsay Williams Michael D'Aquino
Phone: 404-562-2078 404-562-2076
Email: williams.lindsay.l@dol.gov d'aquino.michael@dol.gov

North Florida Roofing & Repair in Jacksonville, Fla., cited by US Department
of Labor's OSHA for safety violations; more than $48,000 proposed in fines

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited North Florida Roofing & Repair of Jacksonville with one willful, one repeat and two serious safety violations following an inspection at a job site on Ashbourne Trail in Jacksonville. The agency initiated the inspection in August as part of its local emphasis program on fall hazards. Proposed penalties total $48,510.

"This employer continues to expose employees to fall and struck-by hazards, putting workers at risk of serious injury or death," said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA's area director in Jacksonville. "Employers who are cited for willful and repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to worker safety and health."

The willful violation, with $42,350 in penalties, involves the employer failing to ensure workers performing roofing operations were using 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.

The repeat violation, with $3,520 in penalties, involves the employer failing to ensure that workers operating a pneumatic nail gun were wearing safety glasses to protect themselves from flying debris. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The same violation was cited in March.

The serious safety violations, with $2,640 in penalties, relate to fall hazards, including an improperly positioned portable ladder that did not extend at least 3 feet over the landing surface, and allowing use of a ladder in the closed position to enter and exit a roof. 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.

OSHA's fall prevention campaign provides employers and workers with lifesaving information and educational materials about working safely on ladders, scaffolds and roofs. It 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.

North Florida Roofing & Repair has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's Jacksonville area director, or contest the citations and penalties 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 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.