Beaverton contractor fined $317,587 for repeat fall-safety violations

Beaverton-based Luka's General Construction LLC faces $317,587 in penalties after Oregon OSHA found workers on a roof wearing harnesses that weren't connected to anything.

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) announced the citation on Thursday, Oct. 15, after inspecting a jobsite in Molalla where the company was working on a two-story house, according to a state press release. Employees had full-body fall protection harnesses on but had not connected them to any fall protection anchor, the agency said.

The drop was 19 feet.

Oregon rules require employers to provide, install and implement fall protection wherever workers could fall 6 feet or more. The fall-protection failure was not a first offense. Oregon OSHA had cited the company for the same violation five times before, all within less than two years.

A ladder at the site that did not extend at least 3 feet above the roof surface was also a sixth-time violation. The company lacked certification records showing employees had been trained to identify fall hazards, a first-repeat offense.

The penalties break down by violation. The fall-protection citation carries a $167,294 fine. The ladder violation adds $138,146. The certification violation accounts for the remaining $12,147. Under Oregon OSHA rules, penalties multiply for repeat offenses. A repeat violation is issued when an employer commits a "substantially similar" violation within three years of a prior citation, according to an Oregon OSHA fact sheet.

"To repeatedly fail to do so only increases the risk that a worker will be seriously injured or killed," said Renée Stapleton, administrator for Oregon OSHA, referring to employers who direct workers to heights without addressing fall hazards.

Falls are one of the leading causes of death in the construction industry, according to the agency.

Luka's General Construction has corrected the fall-protection and ladder violations, Oregon OSHA said. The company remains under an order to correct the certification violation. The company has filed an appeal of the citation, according to the press release. KPTV also reported on the fine.

The appeal's outcome will determine whether the $317,587 penalty stands.