Department of Labor Issues Sanctions
The United States Department of Labor has assessed a Rochester roofing company with nearly $17,000 in fines after an OSHA investigation revealed multiple safety violations. After OSHA cited the company, Elmer W. Davis, Inc., the DOL conducted a thorough investigation, concluding that the company failed to provide required fall protection and violated ladder safety protocols. One of the OSHA citations alleged that workers had no fall protection while at the edge of a roof 40 feet off the ground. OSHA also found that the company permitted unsafe use of ladders on its roofing jobs. The workers were putting a new roof on the Village of Newark municipal building at the time of the investigation.
When Elmer W. Davis, Inc., challenged the citations, the Department of Labor filed a lawsuit. The administrative law judge found at trial that the DOL had sufficiently demonstrated that the company had knowledge of the fall protection violation, as it was readily visible to the jobsite foreman. The court also rejected the company’s allegation that the investigation constituted an “unreasonable search and seizure” under the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ruling that Elmer W. Davis had no reasonable expectation of privacy on a roof on a building that it did not own. The court further found that the OSHA inspector acted reasonably at all times.
OSHA officials lauded the ruling, pointing out that falls from roof and other heights are the primary cause of death and serious injury in the construction industry. OSHA also noted that the company had violated mandatory federal safety procedure that jeopardized the health and safety of workers.
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