Ohio: Roofer’s Failure to Install “Catch Platforms” Results in Penalty for Violation of Specific Safety Requirement

Where a claimant was injured in a fall from a roof, the Industrial Commission did not err in awarding him additional compensation for his employer's violation of a specific safety requirement (“VSSR”), since Ohio Admin. Code 4123:1-3-09(F)(1) required the employer to install catch platforms if safety belts were not “used” during work performed on qualifying pitched roofs. The court acknowledged that safety belts or harnesses might have been made available at the worksite, but it was undisputed that none of the workers were weighing one. The court said that in any event, the employer’s failure to install catch platforms violated § 4123:1-3-09(F)(1). The Court also found the Commission did not err in its finding the employer's compliance with § 4123:1-3-09(F)(1) would have prevented the fall as the evidence indicated that had catch platforms been installed or safety harnesses been used, the claimant's fall would have been arrested. Finally, claimant's unilateral negligence in failing to use a safety harness was not a defense as the employer had not complied with § 4123:1-3-09(F)(1).

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See State ex rel. Byington Builders, Ltd. v. Indus. Comm'n of Ohio, 2018-Ohio-5086, 2018 Ohio LEXIS 3006 (Dec. 20, 2018)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 105.06.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law