22-year-old fell through skylight after roofing company ignored deadly risks, feds say
A Louisiana roofing company is accused of failing to listen to inspector warnings about fall hazards before a 22-year-old fell to his death in April.
Now it faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it started an inspection of Premier South Roofing — which employs about 200 workers across Baton Rouge, Lafayette, North Shore and other areas of Louisiana — in February after observing five employees working without “adequate fall protection.”
About two months later, a 22-year-old roof worker at a different job site lost their balance, stepped on a skylight window and fell 30 feet, officials say. The employee later died of their injuries in the hospital.
The Department of Labor says the deadly incident could have been prevented if the company heeded the earlier warnings about required fall protection standards.
“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers have been with the family and friends of the worker who was fatally injured on our jobsite,” Premier South Roofing told McClatchy News in a statement. “This tragic incident has not been taken lightly.”
The company — which says the 22-year-old was employed through subcontractor — says it did not receive communications from OSHA regarding the February inspection until the citation was issued about six months later. It intends to “vigorously defend” all allegations, violations and penalties.
“Contrary to claims made previously, we provide safety equipment to all our employees, as well as subcontractors in need,” Premier South Roofing said. “Furthermore, Premier South strongly denies ignoring any safety warnings.”
Roderic Chube, OSHA’s Baton Rouge area director, said in the news release that “falls continue to be the leading cause of deaths in the construction industry and yet, employers like Premier South Roofing LLC repeatedly failed to protect their workers from the risk of disabling injuries or worse.”
“Ensuring that workers are trained on and use proper fall protection, as required by law, can prevent tragedies such as this from recurring,” Chube said.
After another inspection in April, OSHA said it cited two repeat violations for not providing fall protection and verifying employee training. The company now faces nearly $250,000 in penalties and has until Aug. 12 to respond.
“We strongly disagree with claims made on OSHA’s news release and look forward to presenting facts which show our commitment to the safety and well-being of all workers on our jobsites,” Premier South Roofing said. “Simply put, we believe that the facts do not merit the allegations made.”
In 2020, there were 351 construction fatalities involving falls, according to OSHA, which stresses that “these deaths are preventable.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 12:00 PM with the headline "22-year-old fell through skylight after roofing company ignored deadly risks, feds say."