The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has determined roofing contractor OJR Construction Inc., Watertown, Mass., again violated federal regulations for fall protections following a workplace safety investigation into how an employee suffered fatal injuries after falling about 27 feet when trying to carry materials and climb a ladder jack scaffold at a job site in September 2023, according to OSHA. The company is not an NRCA member.
OSHA cited OJR Construction in March 2017 and September 2019 for failing to protect employees from fall hazards by complying with required safety standards.
OSHA inspectors found the company willfully exposed employees to fall hazards by not providing a safety net or personal fall-arrest or guardrail systems and by failing to have a program to train employees to recognize and address fall hazards.
The investigation also determined OJR Construction exposed workers to falls and other hazards by not complying with OSHA regulations that required:
- Installing guardrails on scaffolds or determining the tipping weight of scaffold planks that extended more than 18 inches over a supporting surface, exposing employees to falls over 15 feet
- Guaranteeing ladder side rails extended at least 3 feet above the upper landing surface being accessed
- Ensuring the area below the scaffold and ladders within the pathway of vehicular traffic were barricaded to prevent fall and struck-by hazards
- Having a competent person on the job site to ensure the use of fall protection
- Preventing debris from accumulating at the bottom of ladders to provide safe access to the job site
- Providing and ensuring eye protection for employees using nail guns
Following its investigation, OSHA cited OJR Construction for one willful violation and 10 serious violations and assessed $88,721 in proposed penalties.
OJR Construction has chosen to contest OSHA’s citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Learn how to reduce roofing-related injuries and deaths with NRCA’s safety classes, webinars and publications.
