U.S. workplace safety regulators have cited a Wisconsin roofing contractor for the sixth time in the past five years for exposing employees to falls and proposed penalties totaling $48,777.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Carlos Ketz, who operates as Menasha, Wisconsin-based Ketz Roofing, after observing employees working without adequate fall protection on a commercial building in Appleton, Wisconsin, according to a statement issued on Thursday.
"Employers are required to provide fall protection to employees working in construction at heights above six feet,” Robert Bonack, OSHA Appleton, Wisconsin, area office director, said in the statement. “Ketz Roofing’s repeated failure to comply with federal safety requirements exposes employees to fatal injuries from falls, which remains the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry."
A company spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
An administrative law judge of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission affirmed in part and vacated in part citations against a residential roofing contractor who claimed the citations were issued with vindictive motivation and with an improperly executed warrant.