Two companies appeal OSHA fines in roofer’s fatal fall at Caldera HS construction site
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The general contractor and roofing subcontractor for the new Caldera High School under construction in southeast Bend have been fined about $6,000 in total for safety violations that Oregon OSHA alleges led to a roofer’s fatal fall last August. Both companies are appealing the fines.
James Bickers, 37, of Bend, died last August 4 after a 40-foot fall from the roof of the school being built at Southeast 15th Street and Knott Road, due for completion this fall.
In a decision issued Dec. 31, River Roofing of Redmond was given a $3,600 proposed civil penalty for failing to “take all reasonable means” to ensure safety in the workplace.
OSHA claimed that from last February to the day of the fatal fall, the company did not ensure workers were adequately protected when using a rubber-tired “Little Giant Trailer” on the school’s pitched roof, despite the instruction manual saying it was for use on flat, level roofs only.
On the same day, Kirby Nagelhout Construction of Bend was fined $2,450, in a decision that said the trailer, filled with about 1,100 pounds of plywood and insulation, broke through a guardrail “not designed to withstand such heights,” falling about 45 feet to an area where crews worked and walked.
River Roofing disputed the finding of a violation and said even if one occurred, disputed that sufficient evidence supports finding of a serious violation, under the circumstances. Kirby Nagelhout said it met the requirements with engineered guardrail around the roof perimeter and other steps that met or exceeded standards for falling object protection.
