• 24
  • June
    2011

Following months of inspection, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited an Alabama canopy firm for several workplace safety violations and has proposed fines totaling $202,040 against the company.

Chapman Canopy Inc. manufactures and installs canopies for gas stations and convenience stores throughout the Southeast, and it is headquartered in Hueytown Alabama. As part of a regional initiative aimed at reducing fall hazards, OSHA began inspecting Chapman Canopy worksites in Pinson, Albertville and Tuscaloosa in November 2011.

OSHA inspectors found several fall hazards at the Pinson worksite where Chapman Canopy was installing a gas station canopy. Five repeat safety violations were cited, totaling $96,400 for:

  • Failure to ensure head protection was worn
  • Failure to fully plank the scaffold platform
  • Lack of fall protection for workers on scaffolding
  • Lack of a safe entrance and exit to the upper level of the canopy
  • Using the top step of a ladder to access scaffolding

At the Albertville worksite, OSHA cited Chapman Canopy for one serious and two repeat safety violations with $81,220 in penalties for:

  • Exposing workers to fall hazards
  • Failure to fully plank the scaffold platform
  • Failure to extend the ladder 3 feet above the top of the canopy (to avoid falling during the transition from ladder to canopy)

OSHA discovered $24,420 worth of hazards at the Tuscaloosa worksite for one serious and three repeat safety violations, including:

  • Failure to ensure head protection was worn
  • Failure to properly plank the scaffold
  • Failure to use an appropriate personal fall-protection system
  • Using the top step of a ladder to access scaffolding

Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's area director in Birmingham, emphasized that fall risks and other workplace safety hazards are serious concerns that must be corrected, stating that "Chapman Canopy's refusal to implement proper fall protections reflects a careless approach to workplace safety, leaving workers at risk of serious injury and possible death."

Source: $200,000 in Fines Issued to Alabama Firm for Fall Hazards