An Illinois roofing company with a problematic past is again being cited for federal safety violations for allegedly not providing fall-protection gear to workers at two separate construction sites in 10 days, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported Tuesday.
Joshua Herion, doing business as Waukegan, Ill.-based ECS Roofing Professionals Inc., was cited for a total of 13 violations and faces possible fines totaling $360,531, DOL states in the report. DOL reports that investigators with its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) twice saw ECS employees working up to 20 feet above the ground without adequate protection against falls during two separate inspections in October 2021.
“In both of these incidents, the foreman left the site and directed others to do so when OSHA inspectors began asking questions about their safety procedures," OSHA investigator and Chicago North area director Angeline Loftus said in the report. "This defiant act demonstrates Joshua Herion and his company’s disregard for the safety and well-being of workers and the law'”
Loftus said fall hazards cause roofing work to be considered among the most dangerous in the construction industry, and are among OSHA's most cited safety violations. In 2020, 351 of the 1,008 construction workers who died on a job site were killed in falls from elevations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
ECS Roofing Professionals is charged with failing to "equip workers with adequate fall protection equipment, train workers on its use, provide safe access to a ladder jack scaffold platform and ensure head and eye protection were used," DOL reports. The agency also states these recent charges aren't the first brought against ECS Roofing and Herion.
ECS Roofing Professionals has been cited seven times since 2014 for similar issues at different construction sites, DOL reports. The company has not responded to OSHA's requests for information or to citations from previous inspections, and has had more than $139,656 in unpaid penalties turned over to collection agencies, the DOL reports
"While ECS Roofing Professionals seem willing to ignore the dangers of falls and the potential for serious injuries or worse," Christine Zortman, OSHA investigator and Milwaukee area director, said in the report, "OSHA will hold Joshua Herion and other roofing contractors accountable for failing to meet the legal requirements to provide safe working conditions,."
"Fall injuries and fatalities are preventable with the proper use of safety equipment and training," Zortman said.
