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News Details

The News Gazette

OSHA fines roofing company $144,100

  • Tue 29th November 2011
  • Champaign, IL

A Champaign-based company faces fines totaling $144,100 for failing to provide fall protection to roofers working on residential and commercial projects and for other violations.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Gire Construction Inc. for six violations following four separate safety inspections.

According to a release from the Department of Labor, an OSHA inspector looking for fall hazards watched Gire Construction workers removing shingles from a commercial building in Decatur on May 27 without fall protection, leading to two citations — one for operating without providing fall protection and for one failing to provide related training.

On June 3, an inspector saw Gire Construction employees at two separate residential sites in the same neighborhood in Champaign performing roofing work without fall protection. Gire received two citations for failing to provide fall protection and one citation for failing to have a ladder extended 3 feet over the roof's eave.

Then, on Sept. 15, an inspector saw workers not using eye protection at a work site in Rantoul, leading to a citation for failing to require workers to use eye protection.

"Falls are a leading cause of injury and death in the construction industry," OSHA Area Director Thomas Bielema said in a written release. "Employers are responsible for knowing what hazards exist in their workplaces and ensuring that workers are not exposed to risks that could result in injury or death."

In recent months, Gire Construction has come under new ownership. Danville lawyer Steve Miller told The News-Gazette last month that Grayson Enterprises bought the Gire Roofing name and phone number earlier this fall from Ed Gire Jr.

Further, Gire and his wife, Sheila, along with Gire Equipment Leasing and Gire Construction filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy earlier this year. In recent years, Gire has also been the subject of several investigations by the Department of Labor for allegedly violating the Prevailing Wage Act by not paying employees the prevailing wage on public-works construction projects.