Safety violations involving roofing are far too common. Four Washington roofing companies are facing more than a million dollars in combined fines from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) for several safety violations including allowing workers to perform roofing on top of homes without using fall protection gear.

“Not only did these companies knowingly put their workers at risk, they’ve all been caught breaking the same rules before,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director of L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

L&I cited and fined Allways Roofing Inc. $345,700 June 24 for workers not using fall protection properly while re-roofing a two-story home in Mill Creek. The company’s foreman showed inspectors his workers wearing safety harnesses that he said had been tied to anchor points on the main roof. He said the roofers chose not to wear the fall protection system while working on the roof above the garage. 

Three months prior, Allways Roofing was fined nearly half a million dollars for seven willful violations including workers not using fall protection while re-roofing a three-story building in Snohomish and for not wearing eye protection while using pneumatic nail guns.

Over the past 12 years, L&I has cited and fined Allways Roofing for 124 safety violations, mostly for workers not using fall protection. The company currently owes more than four million dollars in fines to the state. It has 15 business days to appeal the latest citation and fine. 

“The requirements are clear. If a company is getting cited this often it means it’s purposefully ignoring the rules and risking workers’ lives to save time and make money,” said Blackwood.

Other companies cited by L&I for fall protection violations over the last three months include:

• SSHI LLC, which does business as DR Horton (Port Orchard) — fined $132,000 June 20 for not ensuring the workers of its subcontractors were using fall protection or wearing safety glasses while operating a pneumatic nail gun and saw. L&I has inspected the company 14 times in the past three years with two repeat and eight serious violations. The company did not appeal the latest citation and fines.
  
  
• Pulte Homes of Washington, Inc. (Washougal) — fined $99,000 April 23 for not ensuring the workers of its subcontractors were using fall protection on a steep pitched roof of a two-story building and no eye protection when operating a pneumatic nail gun. L&I has inspected Pulte Homes seven times in the past three years, resulting in two repeat serious and six serious violations. The company is appealing the latest citation and fines.
  
  
• Valentine Roofing (Burien) — fined $207,000 March 29 for six willful serious violations. Inspectors said the safety lines were too long and had a worker fallen, they would have hit the ground well before the safety arrest system stopped them. Valentine Roofing has 10 prior inspections over the past three years, one with repeat serious violation. The company is appealing the latest citation and fine.

Preventing falls in construction
Employers bear the ultimate responsibility in making sure their workers are safe by ensuring they use fall protection or guardrail systems while working above four feet in height.

Information and training are key to preventing this type of workplace tragedy. L&I has a digital fall protection tool to help employers and workers learn fall protection rules and other ways to stay safe on the job. If you see roofers working without fall protection, you can report it anonymously online or call L&I at 1-800-423-7733. 

Verify contractors
Homeowners should do their homework as well. When hiring a company for roofing or any other construction project, make sure the business is registered by using our Verify a Contractor tool. You will see if the company is licensed, bonded and insured. Hiring an unregistered contractor puts you at financial risk if anything goes wrong on your project. The form will also tell you if the company has a history of violating safety rules.

---