Roofing worker died on his first day — Nampa company didn’t protect him, says OSHA

RP Construction of Nampa failed to protect a worker from a fatal fall in September, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

And the number of residential construction firms in Idaho that fail to protect workers is large enough to be “very troubling” to federal officials.

“Brandon Horine’s first day at work removing shingles from a residential roof in Nampa was also his last,” the department’s news release said. “Without required fall protection equipment in place, the 42-year-old worker fell to the ground on Sept. 12, 2016 — suffering severe brain trauma that ended his life several days later.”

The department on Thursday announced RP Construction has been cited with serious violations for failing to ensure workers used fall-protection equipment; and for not training new workers before they began working on tear-off and re-roofing projects.

OSHA said RP Construction has until Jan. 9 to fix all violations and proposed a total penalty of $13,971.

An obituary, which spelled the worker’s last name as HoRine, said he lived in Fruitland and died at a local hospital Sept. 19.

“Brandon Horine’s death is a tragic reminder of what happens when employers do nothing to protect their workers,” said David Kearns, OSHA’s area director in Boise. “Employers must stop gambling with workers’ lives and change the way they operate before an OSHA inspection or before another worker dies needlessly.”

Falls account for nearly 40 percent of all deaths in the construction industry, making them the single deadliest industry hazard, OSHA said. The agency’s standards require effective fall protection whenever people are working 6 feet or more above the next-lower level.

OSHA said RP Construction has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, to request an informal conference with Kearns or to contest the findings.

RP Construction has been registered with the Idaho Contractors Board for exactly one year. Its registration expiration date was Thursday. A foreman who answered the business telephone number told the Statesman that the owner had no comment.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Roofing worker died on his first day — Nampa company didn’t protect him, says OSHA."