The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has declared a Midwest roofing contractor in default after failing to properly address workplace safety violations, assessing full financial penalties against the company.
The commission, in a March decision publicized Wednesday, found Joshua Herion, and his Waukegan, Illinois-based company, ECS Roofing Professionals Inc., in default after the company refused to comply with proceedings relating to safety violations it was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA inspectors in Illinois and Wisconsin cited the company following separate job site visits in October 2021 after finding numerous violations of construction standards, including willful, repeat and serious violations.
OSHA proposed penalties of $360,531, and the company, through its attorney, contested the citations.
The attorney subsequently withdrew from the case, and the company stopped responding to various discovery and other requests and failed to meet required deadlines, according to the review commission.
The commission, in finding the company in default, called the case significant in that it involves alleged violations of fall protection standards for roofers.
“The court does not take lightly issuing a default judgment where the consequences are so substantial,” the commission wrote.
The commission assessed the total penalty of $360,531 against the company.
At the time it issued the citations, OSHA said workers were found exposed to deadly fall hazards at the two commercial and residential job sites because they were working high above the ground without adequate fall protection.
This article was first published in Business Insurance.
