East Haven Company Cited by OSHA for Neglecting Worker Safety

An East Haven based roofing contractor has been cited by The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

According to OSHA, employees of Xtreme Restoration and Waterproofing LLC were found working without fall protection atop a two-story house on Stratford Ave. in Bridgeport in June. Two serious violations were cited for using a ladder with damaged and broken rungs to access the roof and for not training employees on ladder hazards and safeguards. The company also received a citation for a willful violation to provide lack of fall protection for its employees.

The company also received a repeat violation for lack of fall protection training, for which they had previously been cited by OSHA in 2011 at a Branford job site.

“Some workers lacked any fall protection, while others had safety harnesses that were not tied off to an independent anchorage point. This meant there was nothing to stop these workers from falling and suffering a deadly or disabling injury,” Robert Kowalski, OSHA’s area director in Bridgeport, said in a statement. “These hazards were intensified by allowing workers to use a ladder with broken and damaged rungs to access the roof and by failing to train employees to recognize and protect themselves against these hazards.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls are the leading killer in construction work and have been responsible for the death of three construction workers in Connecticut in 2012.

The company faces $70,070 in fines for these violations and has 15 days within the receipt of its citations to take action.

Image via Shutterstock

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