SAVOY, Ill. (WCIA) — A Central Illinois roofing company is being fined almost $280,000 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to protect workers from high fall hazards, and it’s not the first time the owner has run afoul of federal inspectors.
In a news release, DOL officials said that in 2023, on two separate occasions one month apart, OSHA inspectors observed the employees of Elmer Miller and Miller Building Systems as they framed homes in a Savoy subdivision. The employees, officials said, had no protective equipment to prevent a fall, even as they worked more than 18 feet off the ground. When inspectors approached the worksite, they were met with hostility from the people onsite.
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Officials said falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. In 2022, 395 construction workers died as a result of a fall from a great height, or 37% of the 1,069 workers who died on the job that year.
It’s an issue that OSHA has fined Miller and his companies for on numerous occasions in the past decade. Officials said Miller has been given 20 citations and fines in that time period, most of which related to failure to protect workers from potentially deadly fall hazards while building roofs. Miller has accumulated more than $900,000 in fines, most of which are unpaid.
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“Elmer Miller’s repeated failure to follow federal workplace safety rules shows a disturbing disregard for his employee’s lives and well-being,” said Edward Marshall, the OSHA Area Director based in Peoria.
For these latest violations, OSHA cited Miller Building Systems for three willful and four serious violations and leveled almost $280,000 in fines. DOL officials added that there are another five OSHA investigations that are open into the company that were launched after the June and July violations.
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