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Safety Programs Are Not The Worth The Paper They Are Printed On If Not Enforced

22 October 2024

Costas Cyprus

Although the decision of Secretary of Labor v. Trinity Solar, LLC specifically pertains both to the use of hard hats and fall arrest systems necessary for the protection of workers this decision is another reminder of an oft-repeated theme in this series – a company's safety program is only as good as how strictly it is complied with, and enforced. On November 23rd 2022, employees of Trinity were installing solar panels at a residence at a residence on Kimball Terrace in Yonkers, New York when an OSHA compliance safety officer  appeared and inspected the work site  subsequently issuing two violations to Trinity for the lack of employee head protection while working below solar panels, and a repeat violation for having employees work on a roof 25 feet above ground without fall protection as the relevant safety rule provides that employees engaged in residential construction activities 6 feet or more above the lower level shall protected by guardrail systems, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system.

Trinity installs residential solar panels with thousands of employees throughout New York, New Jersey and other neighboring states. On any given day, Trinity would have 500 to 700 installers.  Trinity had a safety program that included a written safety manual, on-site audits, training and the disciplinary policy. Trinity provided safety equipment that were stored on its trucks, which included special ladders. Upon hiring, employees would receive the company safety manual which included various topics such as job hazard analysis, personal protective equipment, hand and power tools, ladders, fall protection, trenching, hand and power tools, etc.  Employees would also receive a two-page pamphlet summarizing safety rules that would include topics such as fall protection, hard hats, lifting techniques, site cleaning, etc.  Employees would also receive training during orientation through videos, PowerPoint presentations and quizzes that verify that certain training had been understood.  Trinity would also conduct safety refreshers on a quarterly basis with all employees. Trinity safety rules required employees to wear hard hats when someone was working on the roof overhead and for workers to be securely anchored with fall arrest equipment during work on a pitched roof. A supposed strict disciplinary policy was also an effect that included a mandatory 3-day unpaid suspension on the first offense which then included retraining to ensure that the employee understood, while a second offence resulted in mandatory employment termination.

Trinity ran an audit safety program, which included conducting site safety observations at work sites, stopping and correcting work, and documenting them on observation forms.   Trinity even had a safety committee that would meet monthly and include safety coordinators from all the regional offices, regional vice presidents and other representatives. During these meetings recordable and non-recordable injuries for the prior month would be reviewed and changes would be made accordingly to work rules.

On November 23rd 2022, Trinity’s crew leader was Austin Tyler who oversaw six crew members.  The job consisted of the installation of 12 solar panels on the roof of a 2-story home with a pitch of 34°. Three members of the crew worked from the roof surface while the other three crew members and Mr. Tyler worked on the ground. At certain times, Mr. Tyler was working in the home's basement performing certain electrical work. Although in the beginning of the workday, all employees wore personal fall arrest harnesses at some point, the three workers assigned to work from the ground took off their fall arrest harnesses. The installation of solar panels included the initial prep work that consisted of removing the shingles, and installing railings to lay the panels using pry bars, drills and hammers. Ladders were used to access the roof from the ground and each solar panel would be carried up the ladder by a crew member and then passed on to the worker on the roof. The solar panels weighed about 48 pounds. One of the roof crew members, Mr. Rivera would take the roof panel and pass it along to another roof crew member who would carry it over the roof's peak to install. Mr. Tyler admitted that the hard hats had not been distributed and everyone was working all day, and specifically, the ground crew was, without head protection, despite work rules mandating that hard hats are to be worn when there is a danger falling objects from the roofs.

Depending on the degree of the roof’s pitch Trinity would utilize a Y strap configuration with a fixed length rope attaching to the front of the harness or a “shock pack” that attached to the back which decelerated and then stopped the fall when in use.  The OSHA inspector took photographs that showed two employees on the roof who were wearing fall arrest harnesses but a third employee, Mr. Cesar, a member of the ground crew was not, and specifically, photograph showed Mr. Cesar carrying a solar panel up the ladder stepping onto the roof and carrying it over the roof without fall protection.  Moreover, the two roof crew members that wore fall arrest harnesses were not consistently tied off. 

During testimony it also became clear that Trinity’s disciplinary policy was not strictly enforced since it would contribute to difficulty in hiring and retaining workers. Although Trinity provided evidence of disciplining the employees from of this particular incident they had no other evidence of prior discipline at job sites where audits had revealed violations of safety rules, even when records showed that specific employees had violated rules on multiple occasions.  Trinity conceded liability but contested the penalty amount of $98,216, which was ultimately reduced to $88,394.  

If you would like more information regarding this topic please contact Costas Cyprus at ccyprus@wbgllp.com or call (914) 607-6445