For the eighth time since 2016, federal safety inspectors found the owner of a Martin, Ohio roofing company exposed 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.

Altogether Roofing LLC and owner Mike Krueger now face $300,144 in penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector observed eight employees working at heights up to 20 feet without fall protection while atop a Maumee residence on June 22, 2022.

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.

"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," said OSHA Area Director Todd Jensen in Toledo, Ohio. "This employer, and others who continually put people in jeopardy can face our full legal powers to hold them accountable."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 1,008 construction workers died on the job in 2020, with 351 of those fatalities related to falls from elevation.