Contractors who don’t work safely face the consequences, and in 2024, those who were caught were hit with massive penalties.
With 2024 wrapping up, RC compiled its coverage of penalties issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the past year to show which contractors received the heftiest punishments.
As a result, every entry on the list had a fine related to fall protection. This should come as little surprise — roofing remains one of the deadliest jobs in the United States, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2023, 110 fatal injuries in roofing were the result of a fall, slip or trip, and fall prevention in construction remains the most cited violation by OSHA.
When creating the list, the dollar amount of the penalties, as well as fatal incidents, are taken into account. This means those ranked higher on the list may not have received six-figure fines but lost a worker due to the inciting incident.
10. Chilos Construction, $281,485
OSHA Inspectors claimed to observe three workers employed by Bacilio Rios, d.b.a. Chilos Construction, near the peak of an Appleton, Wis. home — and another employee operating a leaf blower on its roof — with no form of fall protection in July 2023.
As a result, OSHA cited Rios for four repeat violations and issued the owner $281,485 in penalties in January. The violations included the company’s failure to provide fall protection equipment or train employees how to use it, improper use of ladders and failure to train workers on hazards related to falls and ladders.
Rios also does business as Bacilio Rios Roofing, and was previously cited in October 2022 for similar violations.
9. 595 Construction LLC, $287,465
595 Construction LLC, based in Crystal Lake, Ill., was caught working without legally required equipment on a residential structure multiple times.
On May 10, investigators said they witnessed fall safety violations at the same site and one across the street. Three weeks later, on May 31, OSHA again found employees exposed to fall hazards at a nearby worksite at a third house in the same neighborhood.
In all, 595 Construction received one willful violation, four repeat violations, and three serious violations, for which the company faces $287,465 in proposed penalties. These are the latest infractions for a company cited for similar citations for serious and repeat safety failures in 2022 and 2023.
8. Brothers Construction Services Inc., $306,229
Brothers Construction Services Inc. — which also operates as Brothers Construction and Roofing and Brothers Roofing — of Framingham, Mass. faces $306,229 in penalties following an inspection held in the fall of 2023.
OSHA opened an inspection at a worksite on Aug. 17, 2023, in response to a complaint that workers on the roof of a residential property were not using fall protection. Inspectors observed multiple OSHA violations involving inadequate fall protection, scaffolds, ladders, training, safety inspections and personal protective equipment.
This resulted in eight willful, repeat, serious and other-than-serious violations.
7. KW Framing, $317,644
KW Framing, a framing contractor based in Justice, Ill., exposed employees to deadly fall hazards multiple times, according to OSHA.
In January 2024, inspectors observed employees working at heights up to 30 feet without fall protection at a residential construction site in nearby River Grove. When inspectors returned to the site on Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, they again found workers exposed to similar fall hazards as they set joists and trusses.
On May 7, 2024, OSHA visited another KW Framing worksite in the same residential development and found, once again, the company allowing employees to sheath a more than 30-foot-high roof without the required fall protection.
OSHA has proposed $317,644 in penalties for the company. The company has not responded to OSHA's 2022 citations or tried to pay $117,843 in penalties assessed.
6. RRC Home Improvement, $328,545
OSHA cited Newark, N.J.-based RRC Home Improvement for violating safety requirements at three North Jersey worksites.
OSHA inspected a worksite in Dover in June 2024 after receiving reports of RRC Home Improvement Inc. employees working on a roof without fall protection. A month later, OSHA inspected two other worksites part of its National Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction.
Following the three inspections, OSHA cited RRC Home Improvement for four willful and seven serious violations, for which the company faces $328,545 in proposed penalties. The company was added to OSHA’s Severe Violators Enforcement Program.
5. ECS Roofing Professionals, $365,576
In an unprecedented move, the Department of Labor prepared to seize the assets of Waukegan, Ill.-based roofing contractor ECS Roofing Professionals, prompting the contractor to pay $365,576 in fines and interest for outstanding penalties.
The action followed a January 2024 federal court’s default order for Herion to pay the outstanding penalties, attorney’s fees and interest for repeatedly exposing employees to falls from elevations in 2022. Since 2014, OSHA has cited Herion and his companies nine times for violations related to fall protection.
“Herion exhausted his rightful appeals process and even after the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and the courts upheld the OSHA penalties, he refused to comply until his personal property was jeopardized,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago.
4. ALJ Home Improvement - $687,536
In August 2022, OSHA inspected a residential jobsite in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., where ALJ Home Improvement of Spring Valley, N.Y. was conducting work. Inspectors observed multiple employees working on a steep slope without fall protection. OSHA also found violations related to fall protection deficiencies, unsafe ladder use, additional ladder-related hazards and lack of head protection.
The company contested the citations but later withdrew them after the Department of Labor employed “vigorous litigation” against the company. As a result, the company accepted the $687,536 penalty.
The August 2022 inspection came less than six months after an ALJ employee suffered a fatal workplace fall in Spring Valley in February 2022. The incident led company founder and principal Jose Lema to plead guilty in February 2024 to criminal charges. He was sentenced to four months in prison.
3. Landmark Erecting Inc., $46,550, reduced to $23,000
Landmark Erecting Inc. of Hahira, Ga. was installing metal roofing sheets on a building in November 2023 in Arcadia, Fla., when an employee fell 12 feet onto a concrete slab below and suffered traumatic head injuries.
The 31-year-old worker was transported to the hospital and later died that day as a result of the injuries. OSHA cited the employer for a repeat violation for not ensuring a worker used fall protection as they walked along a roof frame.
The agency also cited the employer with a serious violation for failing to ensure the availability of accessible medical treatment for the injured employee and an other-than-serious violation for not reporting a work-related fatality within 8 hours.
OSHA proposed $46,550 in penalties to address the violations. Landmark Erecting contested the citations in May, reducing the penalty to $23,000.
2. OJR Construction Inc., $88,721, reduced to $31,053
OJR Construction, a Watertown, Mass. roofing contractor, was cited for safety violations after an employee suffered fatal injuries falling about 27 feet at a Brighton work site in September 2023.
The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited OJR Construction Inc. in March 2017 and September 2019 for failing to protect employees from fall hazards by complying with required safety standards. According to the agency, the worker tried to carry materials and climb a ladder jack scaffold when they fell, sustaining fatal injuries.
The agency cited OJR Construction Inc. for one willful violation and 10 serious violations and assessed $88,721 in proposed penalties. An informal settlement was reached, reducing the penalty to $31,053, according to OSHA records.
1. NOR-D LLC, $61,065
An OSHA investigation found that NOR-D LLC, a contractor in Johns Creek, Ga., failed to provide employees with required fall protection during a job in November 2023 that resulted in the death of a worker.
A five-man crew was on the job at a Macon warehouse when one of those workers stepped on the skylight after dumping debris off the warehouse’s roof. The 54-year-old worker fell a reported 19 feet. An ambulance rushed the worker, who suffered severe injuries, to a nearby hospital where they succumbed to their injuries hours later.
NOR-D LLC failed to notify OSHA of the incident within the required 8 hours. OSHA’s inspection found the company failed to protect its employees by not using fall protection systems, leaving skylights without safety guardrails on the roof the day of the fatal incident. OSHA proposed $61,065 in penalties.
