AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine roofing and siding contractor faces hefty fines for willfully exposing employees to fall hazards at a Hampden residential construction site on multiple occasions during the same inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
OSHA proposed a total of $501,376 in penalties for ARP Renovation LLC/A.R.P. Roofing & Siding LLC due to the companies’ refusal to provide fall protection and other safeguards for their employees. The Maine company operates as a single entity with Medford, N.J.-based ARP Renovation LLC. Both are solely owned, operated and controlled by Andrew Raymond Pollock.
Responding to reports of workers being exposed to fall hazards while working on the roofs of buildings on Victoria Way, OSHA inspectors found at least five employees exposed to falls of 10 to 18 feet to the ground and pavement below. OSHA standards require that employers provide fall protection to employees engaged in residential construction activities six feet or more above a lower level.
According to a release, OSHA repeatedly informed Pollock of the fall protection requirement. After continually refusing to correct this hazard, OSHA took the rare step of posting an imminent danger notice at the site. The agency cited the companies for three egregious willful violations for not providing guardrails, safety nets, personal fall arrest systems or other safeguards. The willful citations account for $435,081 of the total proposed penalties.
OSHA also cited the employer for five serious violations and one other-than-serious violation, carrying $66,295 in proposed penalties, for not:
- Providing employees with a training program about fall hazards
- Ensuring ladder side-rails were extended three feet above the upper landing surface
- Providing employees with a ladder safety training program
- Ensuring employees wore head protection when working below roofing operations
- Maintaining OSHA 300 illness and injury records.
“Every employee working without fall protection at the Hampden jobsite was exposed to potentially deadly or disabling falls, despite Mr. Pollock’s knowledge that this safeguard was required and necessary,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton in Boston. “How dangerous is working without fall protection? Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. In 2020, falls accounted for more than one-third of all construction fatalities nationwide. These fatalities can be prevented if employers follow safety standards to protect their workers from known hazards.”
OSHA cited this employer for fall-related hazards at New Jersey worksites in 2014 and 2021. This employer meets the requirements for the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
ARP Renovation LLC, A.R.P. Roofing & Siding LLC and their successors, have 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
View the citations here.
