Company Cited, Fined After OSHA Investigation At Warminster Apartment Complex

A roofing contractor working at a Warminster housing development has been cited for serious safety violations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA has issued one willful, two repeat and one serious safety violation against Home Live Roofing of Marietta, Georgia for work completed at Jefferson on the Creek apartments, located off Street Road.

The roofing contractor failed to provide adequate fall protection while its employees worked approximately 18 feet above a lower level, resulting in the willful citation, OSHA said. OSHA cited the serious violation because fuel storage was not equipped with a fire extinguisher.

The repeat violations involved the company’s failure to enforce the use of protective eyewear among workers who used pneumatic nail guns, and an improperly set extension ladder where the side rails did not extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing surface, OSHA said. Home Live Roofing was previously cited for similar hazards in 2013, 2014, 2015 and in 2016, according to OSHA.

“Over the past two and a half years, this employer was cited five times by OSHA offices in Georgia and Missouri for violations related to fall protection hazards. This includes citations received just four weeks ago that resulted in nearly $30,000 in penalties,” said Jean Kulp, director of OSHA’s Allentown Area Office. “Fall protection is a basic, yet critical employer-provided safeguard that protects workers from being injured or killed on the job, especially in the construction industry where falls are the leading cause of death.”

The proposed penalties against the company exceed $100,000, OSHA said.