Roofer
File Photo | Photo: Zohair Mirza / Unsplash (Creative Commons)

Federal inspectors have cited and proposed $266,000 in fines to a construction contractor in Zion for allegedly exposing employees to fall hazards, a repeat occurrence with the company.

Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) observed employees of Miguel A. Esquina Reyes – operating as Corner Construction Corp. – working without legally required fall protection equipment on top of a building in Glencoe in August.

Employees were roofing a residential home at the time.

Corner Construction has an “extensive history” of endangering workers by exposing them to fall hazards, OSHA said.

It marks the second such incident in six months and the fifth in two years.

Falls from elevation are the leading cause of fatal and serious injuries among construction workers and rank among the most frequently cited safety violations by OSHA.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 1,069 construction workers died on the job, with 395 of those deaths related to falls, in 2022.

OSHA cited Corner Construction for allowing employees to work without protection at heights greater than six feet and for the unsafe use of ladders

Corner Construction received three violations — one willful, one repeat and one serious, for which the company faces $266,175 in proposed penalties.

In February, OSHA assessed the company $19,015 in penalties after citing a repeat violation for alleged failure to provide fall protection at a Downers Grove worksite.

The 2024 infractions continue a series of similar citations issued after three inspections in 2022 and 2023, OSHA said. Corner Construction is currently liable for $82,000 in unpaid OSHA penalties.

“OSHA often finds contractors violating the same safety regulations repeatedly, because they believe their workers will not fall victim to injury. It takes just seconds to lose footing, to fall off a roof and suffer serious and all-too-often fatal injuries,” OSHA Chicago North Area Director Sukhvir Kaur said.

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“Miguel Reyes continues to show a chronic disregard for safe work operations and a willingness to jeopardize his employees’ lives and well-being,” Kaur said.