Region 5 News Release: 13-2378-CHI
Dec. 23, 2013
Contact: Scott Allen Rhonda Burke
Phone: 312-353-6976
Email: allen.scott@dol.gov burke.rhonda@dol.gov

Tip Top Roofing & Construction cited by US Department of Labor's OSHA
for exposing roofing workers to fall hazards at DeKalb, Ill., home site

SYCAMORE, Ill. – Tip Top Roofing & Construction Inc. has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for four safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of $103,000, after two workers were observed installing asphalt shingles on a residential roof at heights of 10 and 18 feet without fall protection at a job site in DeKalb on June 20. The inspection was initiated under the local emphasis program for fall protection.

Since 2008, the Sycamore-based company has been inspected five times, cited for similar violations, and cited for failing to provide abatement documentation to OSHA.

"It's unacceptable that Tip Top Roofing & Construction repeatedly fails in its responsibility to ensure workers use fall protection," said Kathy Webb, OSHA's area director in North Aurora. "Falls remain the leading cause of death in the construction industry, and companies must implement safeguards and create a culture of safety."

A willful violation involves failing to ensure workers use fall protection while performing residential roofing. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

One repeat violation was cited for failing to have an extension ladder that can extend 3 feet over a landing surface.

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 other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The same violation was cited in 2012 at another job site in Sycamore.

Two serious violations were cited for failing to maintain safety programs for fall protection and ladder safety and to have competent individuals inspect job sites regularly. 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 has created a Stop Falls 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 standards require that an effective form of fall protection, such as guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems, be in use when workers perform construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level.

To view the current citations, visit http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/TipTopCitations.pdf.*

Tip Top Roofing & Construction has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and 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 North Aurora Area Office at 630-896-8700.

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, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

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