SNOHOMISH — A Snohomish-based roofing company continues to collect safety violations, racking up $4 million in fines and establishing itself as one of the state’s most frequent labor law violators, according to the state Department of Labor & Industries.
Not only did Allways Roofing “knowingly” put workers at risk, but it’s been “caught breaking the same rules before,” Craig Blackwood, the agency’s assistant director of Occupational Safety and Health, said in a statement.
The most recent violations were for allowing employees to work atop homes without using fall protection gear, the agency said.
The agency this month fined Allways Roofing $345,700 for a violation in February when regulators observed workers fail to properly use fall protection while re-roofing a two-story home in Mill Creek.
The company’s foreman showed inspectors that his workers were wearing safety harnesses that he claimed were tied to anchor points on the main roof. But workers chose not to wear fall protection while working on the roof above the garage, the foreman said.
Under state law, employers bear the “ultimate responsibility” in ensuring their workers use fall protection or guardrail systems while working above 4 feet in height.
Reached Wednesday, Allways owner Rich Ovak, disputed this year’s safety violations, and claimed the company has been closed since January.
“We tried to settle with them. We did everything we could and they won’t stop,” Ovak said. “They put us out of business.”
The company has 15 business days to appeal the latest citation and fine.
Earlier this year, Allways Roofing was fined nearly $500,000 for seven willful violations related to workers who didn’t use fall protection while re-roofing a three-story building in Snohomish and for not wearing eye protection while using pneumatic nail guns.
Allways has had at least seven serious injuries, including five falls from buildings and two eye injuries from nail guns, Labor and Industries has said.
Ovak disputed the severity of some injuries
“Just because a guy goes to a doctor with dust in his eye doesn’t mean he’s injured,” he said.
Over the past 12 years, regulators have cited and fined Allways Roofing for 124 safety violations, mostly for workers not using fall protection, including a $1.2 million bill in 2021 for safety violations at jobsites in Snohomish and Lake Stevens.
“The requirements are clear. If a company is getting cited this often it means it’s purposefully ignoring the rules and risking workers’ lives to save time and make money,” Blackwood said.
To review the safety record, licensing, insurance and other information for contractors and construction firms, go to ProtectMyHome.net.
More than 1,600 workers are injured each year from falls in Washington. It’s the leading cause of death in the construction industry, but preventable in most cases, the agency said.
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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