Araujo Construction, a roofing contractor based in Calumet City, Illinois, has been fined $277,000 for repeatedly failing to protect employees from hazards while working on residential projects.
According to the the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors observed workers exposed to fall hazards at two job sites three times over four months.
Employees working on sites at Lake Zurich and Wheeling in Illinois and were found to have been working at heights of over 30ft without fall protection. In August inspectors returned to Lake Zurich to find Araujo’s workers again exposed to fall hazards and the following month similar violations were found in Wheeling.
OSHA mandates that guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems be used during roofing activities conducted at 6ft or more. OSHA found Araujo Construction used ladder improperly and work on elevated platforms was undertaken without fall prevention.
Angeline Loftus, OSHA’s Chicago North area director, said: “Despite being warned by OSHA inspectors in May about their failures to protect employees from falls as federal law requires, Araujo Construction Corp continued to show a callous disregard for the safety of its employees during two inspections in August and September.”
