OSHA cites contractor with history of violations nearly $2M in penalties

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Shawn D. Purvis, owner of Purvis Home Improvement Co Inc., for willful, repeat and serious workplace safety violations. Purvis, a Saco, Maine, roofing contractor faces a total of $1,792,726 in penalties.

The enforcement action follows the death of an employee in Portland, Maine, on Dec. 13, 2018. OSHA inspectors found that Purvis knowingly failed to ensure the use of fall protection by his employees at the Portland worksite, and at a separate worksite in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

On April 5, 2019, a Portland grand jury indicted Purvis for manslaughter and workplace manslaughter, charging that his repeated violations of OSHA’s fall protection standards caused his employee’s death.

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A history of violations

Due to Purvis’s knowledge of the hazard and the required safeguards, along with an extensive history of violations, OSHA cited him for 13 egregious willful violations — one for each exposed employee per job site — for failing to ensure the use of fall protection, each of which carries the maximum allowable penalty of $132,598.

OSHA also cited Purvis for failing to provide fall protection training to his employees, and for exposing them to electrocution and eye hazards. OSHA has cited the owner for seven violations of fall protections since September 2006.

“Effective fall protection can prevent tragedies like this when an employer ensures the proper use of legally required lifesaving protection,” OSHA Area Director David McGuan said in a statement. “An ongoing refusal to follow the law exposes other employees to potentially fatal or disabling injuries. Employers cannot evade their responsibility to ensure a safe and healthful worksite.”

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