The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a Maine roofing and siding contractor for repeatedly putting employees in danger of falling at a residential construction site in Hampden.

According to an April 14 news release, OSHA found employees of A.R.P. Roofing and Siding were put at risk by not having the required fall protection and the company owner, Andrew Raymond Pollock, refused to correct the fall hazard despite being warned multiple times. 

"Every employee working without fall protection at the Hampden job site was exposed to potentially deadly or disabling falls, despite Mr. Pollock's knowledge that this safeguard was required and necessary," Glen Blanton, OSHA regional administrator in Boston, said in the release. 

Blanton also stressed just how dangerous working without fall protection is, noting, "falls are the leading cause of death in construction work in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports." He stated falls were behind more than a third of all construction fatalities in the country in 2020. 

Blanton added that if employers followed safety standards to protect employees, those fall-related deaths could be prevented. 

According to the release, the Department of Labor proposed fining Pollock's company $501,376.