AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine roofing and siding contractor faces $501,000 in fines after federal safety inspectors reportedly found employees working 10 to 18 feet above ground without guardrails, safety nets, or other safeguards.
Inspectors also found the contractor failed to train those employees properly.
Andrew Raymond Pollock of ARP Renovation and A.R.P. Roofing & Siding willfully exposed at least five employees to falls while working on multiple occasions in October and November 2021 at the Oak Knoll Village Condos on Victoria Way in Hampden, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
According to a release, after the DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration notified Pollock of the fall protection requirement, he refused to correct the hazard, and OSHA posted notice of imminent danger at the site and has proposed $501,376 in penalties.
Pollock was also cited for violations of requirements to provide employees with training programs about fall hazards and ladder safety, ensuring ladder side-rails are extended 3 feet above the upper landing surface, ensuring employees wear head protection when working below roofing operations and maintaining OSHA 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,” OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton said in the release. “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."
Pollock was cited for fall-related hazards at New Jersey worksites in 2014 and 2021, according to the release.
ARP Renovation and A.R.P. Roofing & Siding have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request a conference, or contest the findings.
