Multiple citations were issued to an Ottawa County roofing contractor who now faces $300,144 in penalties for unsafe working conditions at a Maumee job site, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported.
"He's risking his workers’ health and life by not ensuring proper fall protection is used," OSHA spokesman Scott Allen said of Mike Krueger and the roofing business, Altogether Roofing LLC.
An OSHA announcement stated that federal safety inspectors found the owner of the Martin, Ohio, roofing company exposing roofers and other workers to the construction industry’s leading cause of death — falls from elevation — by failing to provide them with fall protection equipment and hazard training.
An OSHA inspector observed eight employees working at heights up to 20 feet without fall protection while atop a Maumee residence on June 22, the announcement said.
Following the June inspection, the agency cited the contractor for five violations — three willful, one repeat, and one serious — for exposing workers to fall hazards, failing to use ladders correctly, lacking an accident prevention program, failing to provide training on ladder usage and fall hazards, and failing to provide eye protection, OSHA said in its announcement Thursday.
These citations make up the most recent in a string of eight OSHA violations dating back to 2016 for Mr. Krueger and his business, OSHA reported. Since 2019, at least $100,000 in OSHA penalties have been racked up each year, and penalties have increased in price after being accused of continuing to show a disregard for penalties in the mid-to-late 2010s.
"Altogether Roofing shows a callous disregard for the safety and well-being of its workers and continues to expose them to the risks of serious, debilitating and potentially fatal fall injuries," OSHA Area Director Todd Jensen said in a statement. “This employer, and others who continually put people in jeopardy can face our full legal powers to hold them accountable.”
Attempts to reach Mr. Krueger for comment about the OSHA citations and penalties were unsuccessful.
By Dec. 27, all of the penalties must be paid before they begin to accrue interest, and the matter is handed over to debt collectors.
First Published December 18, 2022, 9:36 p.m.
