The Middlesex-based company has had 13 similar citations since 2000.
PARSIPPANY -- A roofing company was recently fined $43,000 over safety violations at a Parsippany job site that caused a worker's death in August, federal labor authorities said.
Middlesex-based S&S Roofing Inc. was cited on Feb. 17 for one repeat violation and three serious violations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in connection with the worker's death.
According to OSHA, the worker fell about 25 feet at a job site on Walsh Drive on Aug. 24, dying six days later from his injuries.
"This tragic incident and unnecessary loss of a life could have been prevented had S&S Roofing properly protected its workers against falls," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office, in a statement. "The leading cause of death in the construction industry,"
OSHA investigators found the company failed to provide workers with proper protections -- a violation for which they were cited in 2011. The company has been cited 10 times for similar offenses since 2000, according to OSHA.
OSHA found that the worker was using a manually operated roof hoist to lower his tool bags to the ground when he fell, which unbalanced the hoist and caused it to tip and go over the edge of the roof. As it tipped, the hoist's boom hit the man and he fell over the roof's edge to the pavement about 25 feet below.
The Carteret-based company is facing total fines of $43,080.
"Compounding the tragedy, the hoist's manufacturer warns: 'Never use roof process materials as counterweight," Hoffman said. "We determined S&S Roofing regularly used roofing materials to counterweight the hoist regardless of the warning. Workers should not have to risk their lives needlessly for the sake of a paycheck."
Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook.