Snohomish roofing company reaches $3.7M in safety fines, has only paid $250,000
Nov 9, 2023, 12:33 PM | Updated: Nov 10, 2023, 11:12 am
Allways Roofing employees working on top of a house in Mount Vernon, Wash. without wearing proper fall protection. (Photo courtesy of WA L&I)
(Photo courtesy of WA L&I)
A Snohomish roofing company has racked up more than $3.7 million in safety violation fines since 2019, according to the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
For the second time in five months, Allways Roofing faces fines of more than $400,000. L&I claims Allways Roofing has broken safety rules over 60 times in the last four years.
More on Allways Roofing: Snohomish roofing company fined $3M for slate of safety violations
“Inspectors photographed two workers, including the job-site lead, wearing safety harnesses that were not hooked to an anchor point to prevent them from falling off the roof,” L&I wrote in a prepared statement announcing the penalties. “Falling from heights is one of the leading causes of workplace deaths and serious injuries. Allways Roofing has had at least seven serious injuries, including five falls from heights and two eye injuries from nail guns.”
So far, the company has only paid a little under one-quarter of a million dollars of their $3.7 million tally. The company also owes $22,426.39 in past-due workers’ compensation premiums. According to L&I, the company’s contractor registration is suspended until those premiums are paid.
“Allways Roofing is one of the most frequent violators of safety rules in the state, with dozens of violations going back more than 10 years,” L&I wrote.
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Allways Roofing will remain in the Severe Violator Program indefinitely, according to L&I. The Severe Violator Enforcement Program concentrates Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) enforcement resources on inspecting employers “who have shown indifference to their obligations to keep workers safe by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-fix violations.”
The roofing company is not appealing the latest fines.
“The requirements are clear. If Allways Roofing is getting cited this often, it means they’re purposefully ignoring the rules to save time and make money,” Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I DOSH, said in a prepared statement. “We won’t give up on our efforts to protect these workers no matter how many times we have to inspect, cite and fine this company.”
KIRO Newsradio reached out to Allways Roofing for comment.
