Trinity Roofing: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jan 11, 2014: Worker falls from roof and sustains liver and head injuries

At approximately 1:20 p.m. on January 11, 2014, Employee #1 and Coworker #1, roo fers employed by Trinity Roofing Company, were working at an apartment building. Their employer had tasked them to repair and hot mop a carport roof located in an alley behind the apartment. After they replaced the roof's rotten wood, they applied a layer of felt along the roof's southern edge. Employee #1, using a mop , then proceeded to brush hot asphalt along the edge of the roof, starting at th e southeast corner of the roof and working the mop along the southern edge until he reached the southwest corner of the roof. Upon reaching the southwest corner , Employee #1 inadvertently stepped on a portion of the roof to which he had app lied asphalt. He slipped and fell off the roof. Employee #1 fell head first appr oximately 8 feet 9 inches and landed on the cement floor below. Emergency servic es were called, and the Kern County Fire Department responded. Employee #1 was t ransported to the hospital, where he was admitted and treated for a laceration o f the liver and a head injury. He remained hospitalized for three days. This eve nt was reported to Cal/OSHA by the Kern County Fire Department at 2:55 p.m. on J anuary 11, 2014. The employer reported to Cal/OSHA at 4:00 p.m. on January 14, 2 014. During the subsequent investigation, it was determined that employer was a roofing contractor primarily engaged in repairing and remodeling residential roo fs. Employee #1 had been working directly for the employer for approximately 13 years. The investigation concluded that the immediate cause of Employee #1's fal l was misjudgment of a hazardous situation.