Roofing companies fined by Labor & Industries

MOSES LAKE — A Pasco-based roofing company that does a lot of work in the Moses Lake area is one of four companies statewide recently fined by the Washington state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) for unsafe work practices.

According to an agency press release, in July 2021 L&I fined Royal Roofing Inc. $108,000 for failing to have proper fall protection for roofers in Wenatchee, as well as another $27,000 for a similar issue in Moses Lake.

“The company did not appeal either citation,” the press release stated.

This is not the first time L&I has cited Royal Roofing for failing to have proper fall protections. According to L&I, the company has been cited nine times between 2013 and 2018, with an appeals board affirming a January 2020 fine of $10,500 while an April 2020 citation for $27,000 is being appealed.

Royal Roofing did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.

Craig Blackwood, acting assistant director of L&I’s division of occupational safety and health, said in the release all four of the companies fined were caught breaking the same safety rules before. Because of that, Blackwood said a number of inspections were done on weekends to ensure the companies were adhering to state safety guidelines.

“Employee safety is a 24/7 commitment,” Blackwood said in the release. “We don’t just check for compliance Monday through Friday from 9-5.”

The other three companies cited in the press release were America 1st Roofing & Builders Inc. in Mukilteo, which was fined $168,039 and has until Oct. 25 to appeal the citation; Home Build Construction in Steilacoom, which was fined $131,400 in early September for a host of safety violations including failure to have fall protection, lack of eye protection and improper use of a ladder, and the company has appealed; and Camp Roofing of Kirkland, which was fined $98,478 in late September for lake of fall protection, improper use of a ladder and other safety violations, and has until Friday to appeal the citation.