From Ted Schwartz, Safety Manager, HR Ideas
The owner and foreman of a roofing company have been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2008 death of an employee who fell off the roof of an apartment building in San Francisco, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris announced last Monday.
Sam Hyung Goo Shim, owner of California C&R Inc., was indicted on April 13 by a criminal grand jury on charges of felony involuntary manslaughter and felony violation of the labor code in connection with the death of Antonio Martinez.
Jwa Young Kim, the foreman who was at the work site at the time of Martinez's death, was also indicted on the same charges.
Martinez had been working as a roofer on a four-story apartment building when he fell 38 feet to the sidewalk below. He was not wearing a harness when he fell and there was allegedly no supervision of his work along the edge of the roof, according to Harris' office.
The grand jury also returned indictments against Shim and his company for multiple counts of workers compensation fraud for allegedly failing to report Martinez's wages in payroll filings submitted to the state Compensation Insurance Fund and the Employment Development Department, according to Harris' office.
Shim and Kim were arraigned on April 22 in San Francisco Superior Court and entered not guilty pleas. They returned to court Monday for a hearing on reducing their bail, which was set at
$300,000, but the judge denied their requests, according to Harris' office.
Employers are reminded that in general, Cal OSHA’s Fall Protection Standard comes into play when there is a fall distance of 7 ½ feet or greater, this includes ladder work. Employers are also reminded that the Fall Protection Standard also requires that there be a Competent and/or Qualified person designated for safety, thus one of the reasons the foreman was indicted.
Ted Schwartz, Safety Manager, HR Ideas. WWW.HRIDEAS.COM. Ted can be reached at 925.556.4404 or fax to email: 925.359.1470
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