Department of Labor gets contractor to finally pay $365k in OSHA fees

The US Division of Labor took an unusual strategy with a Waukegan, Illinois roofing contractor when it moved to grab the employer’s private belongings to pay a $365K tremendous from the Occupational Security and Well being Administration (OSHA) associated to security of its staff. The corporate, ECS Roofing, and its proprietor, Josh Herion, have repeatedly endangered workers by exposing them to falls from elevations by not offering security tools. May any enterprise face a forfeiture for OSHA violations? The brief reply – sure, but it surely appears to be a final resort when a enterprise ignores their accountability for protecting workers secure. Right here’s the longer story. 

OSHA citations issued 

In October 2022, OSHA issued citations to ECS Roofing for exposing workers to lethal fall hazards at job websites in each Illinois and Wisconsin. The corporate was fined over $360,000 for placing his staff’ lives in danger. Previous to that, Herion’s corporations had been cited 9 different occasions associated to fall safety. In response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls are the primary reason for dying or severe accidents within the development trade.

Though Herion contested OSHA’s penalties via the appeals course of, which is his proper, the courts upheld the tremendous. OSHA filed a debt assortment in August 2023 towards the corporate. Herion continued to refuse to pay the debt. The court docket issued a default judgment in January 2024. The Division of Labor filed liens on Herion’s property a few months later and filed a movement for asset discovery, to get info on different collectible belongings. Herion lastly responded and made the funds. 

Maintain your workers 

The Division of Labor calls the movement to grab the employer’s belongings “unprecedented,” as a result of it so not often happens. Most companies do in the end adjust to OSHA citations, even when they disagree and undergo the appeals course of. 

OSHA Area Administrator Invoice Donovan in Chicago mentioned, “OSHA will maintain employers like Herion and ECS Roofing Professionals accountable once they callously ignore their accountability for his or her workers security.”

ECS Roofing, which payments itself for its “high quality, integrity, and reliability,” on its web site, possibly wants a refresher in what integrity means.