While few companies practice this kind of gross negligence, the case reminds us that employers need to be ever vigilant that workers follow good safety practices.
In February 2017, an OSHA inspector visited the worksite of Great White Construction Inc., a roofing company based in Jacksonville, Florida. He noticed that the roofers were wearing their harnesses, but they weren’t tied off to the rope grabs and roof anchors. Then he observed that other employees of the company were working at a second site with the same faulty fall protection.
“In the past five years, Great White Construction’s series of willful, serious, and repeat violations has demonstrated indifference towards the safety of their employees,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in an August 9 press release (www.osha.gov). “The company allowed their employees to work without fall protection and made no reasonable effort to eliminate the hazard.”
Investigated 12 times since 2012 and issued 22 citations, Great White Construction was placed on OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program, with a proposed penalty of $1,523,710.