California Premier Roofscapes Inc., Escondido, Calif., has again been cited for fall-protection violations; the company has been investigated and cited for fall hazards on six different occasions during the past four years, according to www.ishn.com. The company is not an NRCA member.
Cal/OSHA has cited California Premier Roofscapes for repeat violations of fall-protection safety orders and proposed $134,454 in penalties.
"California Premier Roofscapes has repeatedly put its workers at risk of potentially deadly falls from heights, disregarding basic safety requirements to protect its employees," says Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum.
Cal/OSHA opened the most recent inspection of the company in August 2017 after receiving a report that workers were not wearing proper fall protection while installing tiles on the roof of a three-story home in Chula Vista, Calif. Inspectors found the company failed to ensure its workers were wearing safety harnesses and other personal fall protection. Additionally, employees were not properly trained regarding fall protection and roofing work hazards.
Cal/OSHA issued citations to California Premier Roofscapes for four violations, including one repeat serious violation for failing to ensure workers were wearing fall protection; one repeat general violation for failing to effectively implement and maintain a written injury and illness prevention program; and two general violations for not inspecting equipment before each use and inadequate training regarding fall hazards and protection.
The first inspection with California Premier Roofscapes was in October 2014 after Cal/OSHA received a complaint that employees were working on an Irvine, Calif., roof with no fall protection. Cal/OSHA inspected one of the company's residential construction sites in Azusa, Calif., the following day after receiving a complaint involving an unsafe portable ladder.
The following month, Cal/OSHA investigated an accident involving a worker who suffered serious head and knee injuries after falling 15 feet from a ladder attached to scaffolding at a Carlsbad, Calif., residential construction site. In June 2015, Cal/OSHA opened an inspection and cited California Premier Roofscapes for a repeat serious violation after workers with no fall protection were reported on the roof of an Irvine construction site. In March 2016, Cal/OSHA inspected a report that California Premier Roofscapes' workers wore harnesses but were not properly tied off to prevent falls from the roof of a Tustin, Calif., construction site. The company was cited for two repeat violations, one serious and one general category.
In California's roofing industry, falls have caused nine deaths and 162 serious injuries since 2014. All California employers are required to have an effective written injury and illness prevention program, which is a safety program to identify, assess and control hazards in the workplace.
