According to federal investigators, a roofing contractor in the Chicago area, including Lake County, put its employees in danger by failing to provide adequate fall protection on the job. The contractor has been fined nearly $300,000.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States Department of Labor has proposed fines of $277,584 against Araujo Construction Corp.
OSHA investigators found workers at the roofing contractor to be exposed to “deadly fall hazards” on three separate occasions over the course of four months, prompting the recommended fines. Both Lake Zurich and Wheeling were the venues of the incidents that took place.
OSHA found that in each case, the company’s site foremen had disregarded the safety of their employees while they framed new homes.
On May 5, August 22, and September 14 of this year, inspectors found two willful, four repeat, and six significant breaches at the workplace.
On May 5th, OSHA inspected a facility in Lake Zurich and told the site’s management and a foreman that they were in violation of federal law by permitting workers to do tasks at heights of more than 30 feet without proper fall protection.
According to OSHA, inspectors returned to Lake Zurich on August 22 and found workers still vulnerable to fall hazards.
Continue reading-
- Lake County Files Over 130 Requests to Keep Violent Crime Convicts Incarcerated
- Ohio’s Judges Lake County Clerk of Courts Faith Andrews Can Return Despite Staff Complaints
On September 14, OSHA investigators identified the same infractions being committed by the employer in Wheeling, where employees were working at heights of more than 15 feet.
When working on a roof that is six feet or higher above lower levels, OSHA states that a guardrail, safety net, or personal fall arrest system must be employed.
Authorities also found that Araujo Construction Corp had employees working on evaluated platforms without sufficient fall protection and that employees had been permitted to utilize unsafe ladders.
OSHA further claims that the company did not give training on the safe use of forklifts or ensure that employees using air-powered nail guns had an eye, head, and face protection.
Araujo Construction Corp. showed “callous disregard” for the safety of its employees during two inspections in August and September, according to Angeline Loftus, director of OSHA’s Chicago North Area Office. “Despite being warned by OSHA inspectors in May about their failures to protect employees from falls as federal law requires, Araujo Construction Corp. continued to show callous disregard” in May.
Before an Araujo worker suffers unnecessarily significant and perhaps disabling injuries or worse, Loftus has threatened to utilize enforcement authorities to hold the company accountable if it refuses to comply with OSHA and industry-recognized safety rules.
OSHA has given Araujo Construction Corp 15 business days from the date company received its citations and penalties to either comply, request an informal session with the area director, or appeal the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
A total of 1,008 construction workers were killed on the job in 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cause of death for 351 people was due to a fall from a great height.
Stay connected with lakecountyfloridanews.com for the Latest News.
