Judge Affirms $16.7K in OSHA Penalties Against New York Roofing Contractor

An administrative law judge has ordered a Rochester, New York commercial roofing company to pay $16,782 in penalties for safety violations, after an investigation and litigation by the federal government.

The company, Elmer W. Davis Inc., had contested citations for two serious fall protection and ladder safety violations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA alleged that Davis failed to protect an employee from a 40-foot fall hazard as the worker stood near the edge of a roof to guide a crane’s operation. OSHA also alleged the company allowed workers to use an unsafe ladder.

In April 2022, OSHA found that workers performing roofing work on the Village of Newark’s municipal building were not using the necessary fall protection.

The post-trial decision affirmed two of the citations, including the allegation that the employer failed to protect an employee from a 40-foot fall. One citation related to fall protection methods on a low slope roof was vacated.

The judge said OSHA proved that Elmer W. Davis had knowledge of the fall protection violation because the violation was readily visible to the company’s foreman and the company had failed to implement its safety program adequately. The judge rejected the company’s contention that its defense of unpreventable employee misconduct should be automatically credited based on an unrelated prior case involving the same defense.

Additionally, the judge rejected the company’s defense based on the fourth amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, finding that Elmer W. Davis Inc. could have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the rooftop of a construction site that it did not own, and that the OSHA inspector acted reasonably during the inspection..

Elmer W. Davis Inc. serves locations across Western and Central New York, as well as areas in Pennsylvania, installing low slope roofing.

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