Region 1 Release Number: 10-1482-BOS/BOS 2010-439
Nov. 1, 2010
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: 617-565-2074
E-mail: fitzgerald.edmund@dol.gov

Kensington, Conn., roofing contractor faces $66,600 in fines from
US Labor Department's OSHA for fall hazards at 2 Newington jobsites

HARTFORD, Conn. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Cavalier Roofing Co. LLC, a Kensington, Conn., roofing contractor, for alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards at two worksites. The company faces a total of $66,600 in proposed fines following OSHA inspections at residential construction sites at 331 Connecticut Ave. and 102 Hartford Ave. in Newington, Conn.

OSHA found employees at both locations exposed to falls from 12 to 20 feet due to lack of fall protection safeguards and using ladders of inadequate length to access roofs and work areas. Workers at the Hartford Avenue jobsite also lacked training in proper ladder use. Based on earlier inspections, Cavalier Roofing was cited by OSHA in June and December of 2009 for similar hazards at worksites in West Hartford and Wethersfield, Conn. As a result, OSHA now has issued Cavalier five repeat citations, with $61,000 in proposed fines for these latest conditions. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

"Each time an employer fails to provide required fall protection, its workers are exposed to potential death or disabling injury," said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA's area director in Hartford. "While it's fortunate that no one fell at these two jobsites, worker safety must not and can never be left to chance. For the well-being of its workers, this employer must provide, maintain and ensure the use of effective fall protection and safe work practices at all its jobsites."

OSHA's inspection identified an additional fall hazard from improper ladder use and also found workers exposed to electric shock hazards from using an aluminum ladder next to an energized electrical power source. These conditions resulted in two serious citations with $5,600 in fines. OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection, such as guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems, be in use when workers perform residential construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level. Detailed information on fall protection hazards and safeguards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/index.html.

Cavalier Roofing has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, meet with OSHA or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Hartford Area Office, telephone 860-240-3152. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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