SNOHOMISH — A Snohomish roofing company, labeled one of the most frequent safety violators in the state, faces another $430,000 in fines for ignoring rules it has broken 60 times in the past four years, state labor regulators said Thursday.
It’s the second time in five months that state authorities have cited Allways Roofing for putting workers at risk, according to the state Department of Labor and Industries.
With a long history of safety violations, Allways Roofing has racked up more than $3.7 million in fines. So far, the company has paid just under $250,000.
The company has had at least seven serious injuries, including five falls from heights and two eye injuries from nail guns, Labor and Industries said in a statement.
In 2021, the firm was fined $1.2 million for safety violations at job sites in Snohomish and Lake Stevens. Before that, it faced a nearly $375,000 bill for violations in Arlington and Woodinville, where five workers, including a foreman, were allegedly working on a steep-pitched roof without proper fall protection.
The most recent fine is related to an incident last spring.
Authorities conducted an inspection of Allways Roofing in April after roofers were reported to be working on a two-story house without connected safety harnesses or eye protection in Mount Vernon. Falling from heights is one of the leading causes of workplace deaths and serious injuries, the agency said.
Inspectors photographed two workers, including the job-site lead, wearing harnesses that weren’t hooked to an anchor point to prevent them from falling off the roof.
Reached by phone Thursday, the company declined to comment.
The latest inspection resulted in $433,718.00 in fines, including four egregious, willful, repeat violations of fall protection rules, the most severe penalty imposed by the state.
The company is not appealing the latest fines, the agency said.
Allways Roofing has been — and will remain in — the “Severe Violators Enforcement Program,” meaning it faces more intense scrutiny.
“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 the agency’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said in a press release.
“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,” he added.
The company also owes more than $22,000 in past due workers’ compensation premiums. Its contractor registration is suspended until those premiums are paid.
To review the safety record, licensing, insurance and other information for contractors and construction firms, go to ProtectMyHome.net.
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @JanicePods.
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