Roofing Companies Fined $1.27M for Endangering Workers

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The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries reported on Wednesday that it fined four roofing contractors more than a million dollars for letting their workers perform on top of homes without fall protection gear, among other safety violations.

“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.

On June 24, L&I fined Allways Roofing Inc. $345,700 for allowing its workers to re-roof a two-story home in Mill Creek without said gear, the agency reports.

According to L&I, the company’s foreman claims the roofers opted not to wear fall protection gear. He reportedly showed inspectors his workers wearing safety harnesses tied to anchor points on the main roof, L&I reports further.

Allways Roofing was fined nearly half a million dollars for seven willful violations three months earlier over similar allegations in Snohomish, L&I reports further. This incident also saw workers not using eye protection while using a pneumatic nail gun, according to L&I.

Over the last 12 years, L&I reports, Allways Roofing has been fined for 124 safety violations, primarily involving workers failing to use fall protection.

It owes more than four million dollars in fines to Washington State to date, according to the agency. It has 15 business days to appeal the latest citation and fine, L&I reports.