The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and roofing contractor RRC Home Improvement Inc., Newark, N.J., have reached a settlement agreement resolving litigation from investigations during summer 2024 that found the company repeatedly exposed workers to fall and safety hazards at two job sites, according to OSHA.
OSHA initially investigated RRC Home Improvement in June 2024 at a job site in Dover, N.J., after receiving reports of employees working on a roof without fall protection. In July 2024, investigations began at RRC Home Improvement job sites in Lodi, N.J., as part of OSHA’s National Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction, and inspectors again found employees working without required fall protection. Additional violations included lack of hard hats, eye protection and fire extinguishers, as well as non-compliant pump jack scaffold poles and unsafe ladder use.
The settlement agreement between OSHA and RRC Home Improvement affirms the citations from the 2024 inspections, which included four willful and seven serious violations. The company agreed to pay a $155,000 penalty.
As part of the settlement, RRC Home Improvement agreed to implement enhanced abatement measures, including reporting all job sites to OSHA before starting work and providing OSHA with a written, site-specific fall-protection plan for the job site, including certification that all employees have completed a fall-protection training course.
Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Learn how to reduce roofing-related injuries and deaths with NRCA’s safety classes, Power Hours and publications.
