The Department of Labor has filed suit in federal court to force ECS Roofing Professionals Inc., Waukegan, Ill., to pay $360,531 in penalties for repeatedly exposing employees to falls from elevations, according to a DOL press release. The company is not an NRCA member.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, the suit follows an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission decision March 6 that affirmed the OSHA citations after its investigation found Joshua Herion—operator of ECS Roofing Professionals—exposed employees to deadly fall hazards at two separate job sites in Illinois and Wisconsin in October 2022.
OSHA determined the contractor did not provide employees with required fall-arrest systems, a safety net or guardrails as they installed siding and roofing materials on roofs in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and at a job site in Waukesha, Wis.
After OSHA issued citations and fined ECS Roofing $226,530 for the Illinois violations and $134,001 for violations in Wisconsin, the company contested the citations and penalties with the commission. Although the commission’s decision affirmed the penalties in full, Herion has failed to pay the penalties, which led to the lawsuit. Since 2014, OSHA has cited Herion and his companies nine times for violations related to fall protection.
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