A Massachusetts roofing company and "serial violator" of workplace safety laws has again been cited for exposing workers to life-threatening hazards on the job, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports.
The Roof Kings LLC, based in Quincy, Mass., has been cited for four willful violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the DOL reported Feb. 9, after a December OSHA inspection of a worksite found employees exposed to falls of up to 18 feet. The company also faces $137,508 in penalties, the report states.
"On Dec. 8, 2022, OSHA conducted a monitoring inspection at a company work site on Roach Street in Quincy to check if The Roof Kings LLC was complying with fall protection and other workplace safety standards," the report states. "Instead, inspectors observed employees exposed to falls of up to 18 feet as they removed shingles from an unprotected two-story roof."
The charges stemming from the December inspection are the most recent in a history of violations by the Roof Kings dating back to at least 2014, according to the DOL. OSHA inspectors cited the company in September for fall protection hazards and identified six violations with $137,196 in penalties, after workers were seen exposed to fall hazards up to 21 feet, the agency reports.
“The Roof Kings LLC knows and continually ignores its responsibilities to protect employees from imminent hazards that can end their careers or lives,” OSHA Area Director James Mulligan said in the report. “This company is a serial violator whose ongoing defiance of the law and willingness to put workers at risk of dangerous and disabling falls is troubling and potentially deadly."
Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of the 986 U.S. construction worker deaths reported in 2021, 378 of those were related to falls from elevation, the DOL reports.
In 2021, Roof Kings was found in contempt by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit for failing to honor a 2017 federal settlement agreement with OSHA, according to the report. The agreement required the company to pay outstanding OSHA penalties, employ specific safety and health abatement procedures and pay new penalties if it violated OSHA standards again.
Despite the contempt ruling against it, Roof Kings continued to refuse to comply with the agreement. As a result, a special master has been appointed to determine what corrective measures will be most effective to enforce the company's compliance with court orders, according to the report. Roof Kings also faces additional penalties and interest due to the contempt ruling, the DOL reports.
“When a company fails to comply with the safety and health mandates and penalty payment obligations of a settlement agreement, the U.S. Department of Labor will use all legal tools available to hold the employer accountable,” Regional Solicitor Maia Fisher said in the report. “If employers do not protect workers in the ways they themselves have promised, we will seek payment of higher penalties.”
