OSHA Inspection: NORTHWESTERN BUILDERS, INC.

Issued

Jan 15, 2021

Abate by

Feb 11, 2021

Penalty

Initial $9,446 · Current $5,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1926.501(b)(10): Each employee engaged in roofing activities on low-slope roofs with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet or more above lower levels, was not protected from falling by guardrail systems, safety net systems, personal fall arrest systems, or a combination of warning line system and guardrail system, warning line system and safety net system, or warning line system and personal fall arrest system, or warning line system and safety monitoring system.  Or, on roofs 50-feet (15.25 m) or less in width, each employee was not protected by use of a monitoring system.   a) Northwestern Builders, Inc., at 910 Copper Road, Frisco, CO 80443: On or before October 16, 2020, the controlling employer did not ensure that 2 subcontractor employees and 1 foreman, of the controlling employer, were protected from injury while cutting metal roofing material and carrying the roofing material near the edge, on a low sloped roof of a 6-story condominium.  The employer attempted to utilize a safety monitoring system on a section of the roof which was 74 feet in width; 37 feet on the east slope and 37 feet on the west slope.  The controlling employer did not use both a safety monitor and a warning line system on a roof over 50 feet in width.  This condition exposed employees to falls of approximately 60 feet.

Issued

Jan 15, 2021

Abate by

Feb 11, 2021

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1926.503(a)(2)(iii): The employer did not assure that each employee has been trained, as necessary, by a competent person in the use and operation of guardrail systems, safety net systems, warning line systems, safety monitoring systems, controlled access zones, and other protection to be used,  and employees potentially exposed to fall hazards to enable each employee to recognize the hazards of falling and the procedures to be followed in order to minimize these hazards:  a) Northwestern Builders, Inc., at 910 Copper Road, Frisco, CO 80443: On or before October 16, 2020,  the controlling employer did not ensure that each employee engaged in roofing operations was trained to recognize the hazards of working at elevation and trained in the use of fall protection. Four subcontractor employees and one foreman engaged in roofing activities on a 6-story condominium with a roof pitch of 8-in-12, 4-in-12 and 1-in-12 and 74 feet wide; were incorrectly utilizing fall protection, in that the subcontractor employees connected the lanyard to a front Dee-ring located at the waist of the  fall harness, lifelines were not protected from being cut or abraded, the safety monitor system was not correctly installed and the safety monitor was not attentive to his duties.   This condition exposed the employees to bodily injury due to the failure of attaching the lanyard to the required attachment point on the fall harness and fall hazards of approximately 60 feet.

Issued

Jan 15, 2021

Abate by

Feb 11, 2021

Penalty

Initial $6,747 · Current $4,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1926.502(d)(11): Lifelines were not protected against being cut or abraded:  a) Northwestern Builders, Inc., at 910 Copper Road, Frisco, CO 80443: On or before October 16, 2020, the controlling employer did not ensure that subcontractor employees were protected from injury, in that 2 subcontractor employees installing new, standing seam, metal roofing on a six-story condominium, with a roof pitch of  8-in-12,  did not utilize a protection system to prevent the lifelines from being cut or abraded. The lifeline was unprotected, laying over the edges of the metal roofing and plywood decking to the anchor point on the other side of the roof ridge.  This condition exposed the employees to fall hazards of approximately 10-60 feet.

Issued

Jan 15, 2021

Abate by

Feb 11, 2021

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1926.502(d)(17): The attachment point of the body harness was not located in the center of the wearer's back near shoulder level, or above the wearer's head:  a) Northwestern Builders, Inc., at 910 Copper Road, Frisco, CO 80443: On or before October 16, 2020, the controlling employer did not ensure that subcontractor employees were protected from injury, in that two subcontractor employees installing standing seam, metal roofing on a 6-story condominium with a 8-in-12 pitch roof was wearing a fall harness; however, the attachment point was in the front of the fall harness at waist level. This condition exposed the employees to bodily injury.