Roofing Company Did Not Protect Workers From Deadly Falls: Officials

A roofing company based in East Haven has been cited for failing to protect its employees against deadly falls at a Bridgeport job site over the summer, and authorities say it’s not the first time the company has put employees in harm’s way.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, roofing contractors working for Xtreme Restoration & Waterproofing LLC “were exposed to potentially fatal falls at a Bridgeport work site due to their employer’s deliberate failure to supply required fall protection.”

DOL officials said the employees were working at the top of a two-story residence at 1040-1044 Stratford Avenue in Bridgeport on June 16. Some had no fall protection at all, while others wore safety harnesses that were not properly anchored, meaning there would have been nothing to catch them in the event of a fall.

“These hazards were intensified by allowing workers to use a ladder with broken and damaged rungs to access the roof and by failing to train employees to recognize and protect themselves against these hazards,” said Occupational Health and Safety Administration area director in Bridgeport, Robert Kowalski, in a statement Thursday.

Xtreme Restoration & Waterproofing, which is based on Short Beach Road in East Haven, according to the Better Business Bureau, was cited for a “willful violation for lack of fall protection” that was “committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard” for the law or with “plain indifference” to worker safety and health.

The company was previously cited in 2011 for a lack of fall protection training at a job site in Branford and so received a repeat violation as well.

OSHA also issued two “serious violation” for use of the broken ladder and for the company’s failure to train employees on ladder safeguards. “Serious violations” mean there is “substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known,” according to the DOL.