A worker died repairing a roof leak on a two-story house in Westchester on January 9, 2026. He fell about 24 feet and suffered fatal head injuries. Cal/OSHA’s August 3 news release (DIR 2026-62) says the crew was on that roof without required fall protection, without proper ladder-safety training, and without an on-site worker certified in first aid. Two of the three employers also failed to provide effective heat-illness prevention training. DIR did not name which two.
Three Los Angeles County roofing contractors were cited. Combined proposed penalties: $282,420. Two of the three appealed. A separate Bureau of Investigations file remains open. If you work roofs, bid against these shops, or you are family trying to make sense of a citation packet, this is how to read what Cal/OSHA actually said — and what you can do next.
What Cal/OSHA issued
DIR published these proposed penalties and classifications. It did not publish inspection numbers or the Title 8 section on each item. Do not invent those. Ask for the file.
- Atlas Building and Roofing, Inc. — $120,300 proposed: one willful-serious accident-related, three serious, two general. DIR notes prior noncompliance: willful-serious and serious roofing citations in 2025, and two serious roofing citations in 2023. Appealed.
- Atlas Roofing Company, Inc. — $113,750 proposed: one willful-serious accident-related, three serious, two general. Appealed.
- Roof-Top Construction, Inc. — $48,370 proposed: one serious accident-related, three serious, two general. DIR did not report an appeal.
Cal/OSHA treated each of the three as responsible for protecting workers on that job.
CSLB license #1057468 is the C-39 roofing license associated with Atlas Building and Roofing Inc. of West Hills (C-39 Roofing). Confirm current status on the CSLB public lookup before you rely on it — this draft does not treat a lookup as a finding that the firm was unlicensed on January 9, 2026. DIR listed Atlas Roofing Company, Inc. as a separate cited employer. Do not collapse the two names.
What the labels actually mean
General (Title 8 §334(b)): a safety-or-health violation specifically determined not to be serious.
Serious (Title 8 §334(c); Labor Code §6432): Cal/OSHA gets a rebuttable presumption if it shows a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm could result from the actual hazard. Proving a standard was broken is not enough by itself. The employer can rebut by showing it did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have known, of the violation.
Willful (Title 8 §334(e)): an intentional and knowing violation where the employer was conscious that what it was doing violated a safety law; or the employer knew an unsafe condition existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate it. Willful-serious is both labels at once. That is what DIR put on the accident-related items issued to the two Atlas employers.
Accident-related (Labor Code §6319(d); Title 8 §336): the Division determined that death or serious injury, illness, or exposure was caused by a serious, willful, or repeated violation. The penalty is not reduced for good faith, history, or abatement credit — only for size of the business. Roof-Top’s accident-related item is classified serious, not willful-serious. None of this is a court verdict.
Citations on appeal are not final
An employer has 15 working days from receipt of the citation to contest it at the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board. DIR says the two Atlas employers have appealed. Until the Board issues a final order — or the employer withdraws, settles, or lets an item become final — those proposed penalties can be reduced, reclassified, or withdrawn. Employees may participate as third parties in an employer’s appeal, and may appeal the reasonableness of an abatement date. The employer must post notice of the appeal where employees will actually see it, and serve it on any employee who suffered a serious injury and on the representative of any employee who was killed.
The rule that should have been on that house
DIR’s description tracks Title 8 §1731, the residential-type roofing standard that took effect July 1, 2025. On slopes up to and including 7:12, employees must be protected from falling when the fall distance is 6 feet or more. On slopes steeper than 7:12, that protection is required regardless of height. The old 15-foot residential trigger is not the law anymore. Construction first aid is Title 8 §1512. Outdoor heat-illness prevention for construction is Title 8 §3395: water, shade, high-heat procedures at 95°F, and effective training before heat-exposed work starts.
What you can do next
1. Get the inspection file. File a Public Records Act request under Government Code Division 10 (commencing with §7920.000). The 10-day determination clock, and the optional 14-day extension for unusual circumstances, are in Government Code §7922.535. Use DIR’s online form, email DOSHPRA@dir.ca.gov, or go in person to a district office. Identify the employer legal names, the Westchester worksite, January 9, 2026, and the date range through the citation. Ask for citations, the inspection report, photographs, and appeal status. Also search OSHA’s public establishment search by company name and California.
2. File a Cal/OSHA complaint if the hazard is still on a job you can see. Anyone can file. A complaint from an employee or employee representative is “formal”; everyone else’s is “non-formal.” You do not need the Title 8 section number. You do need enough detail to find the hazard: employer name, address, height, slope, whether fall protection is actually in use, and who is on site. Call the district office for that zip code (8 a.m.–5 p.m., weekdays) or email via the zip-code locator. Workers can also call 833-579-0927, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, for a live bilingual representative. Your name is confidential unless you ask to be named. Serious and imminent hazards generally get an unannounced on-site inspection; lesser hazards may get a 14-day letter that must be posted.
3. If you get punished for speaking up, that is a different filing. Labor Code §6310 bars discharge or discrimination because you complained about unsafe conditions (to Cal/OSHA, another agency, your employer, or your representative), participated in a safety committee, reported a work-related fatality, injury, or illness, or asked for injury records. You are entitled to reinstatement and lost wages. Labor Code §6311 bars layoff or discharge for refusing work that would violate the Labor Code, a safety standard, or a safety order where that violation would create a real and apparent hazard to you or your coworkers. File with the Labor Commissioner under Labor Code §§6312 and 98.7. Current §98.7 gives you one year from the retaliatory act. You may also file a concurrent federal OSHA whistleblower complaint within 30 days. Call 833-526-4636.
4. Related worker tools. Unpaid wages, overtime, or missing meal and rest breaks go to the Labor Commissioner as a wage claim — not to Cal/OSHA. Keep your own time records and paystubs. If you need a plain-English walkthrough of a DLSE wage claim, the free Wage Theft Recovery kit at JusticePrompt.com is built for that filing.
High Hazard Unit
Cal/OSHA’s High Hazard Unit inspects employers with the highest rates of preventable injuries, illnesses, and workers’ compensation losses. Targeting can use the annual High Hazard Industry List (DART rates above 200 percent of the California private-sector average), workers’ compensation loss data, citation history, and other sources in Labor Code §6314.1.
FAQs
If the two Atlas citations are on appeal, can I still use them? Yes — as proposed Cal/OSHA findings, not as a final Board order. Quote the DIR release accurately, pull the file, and say the cases are appealed. Do not treat Roof-Top as appealed unless DIR or the Board says it is.
Can a family member file a complaint or request the records? Yes. Anyone who believes a safety standard is being violated, or that a danger threatens physical harm, can file a complaint. Family and the public can also request inspection records under the Public Records Act. Immigration status is not a condition of protection.
Sources
DIR 2026-62, https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2026/2026-62.html. Title 8 §§334, 336, 1512, 1731, 3395. Labor Code §§6310, 6311, 6312, 6314.1, 6319, 6432, 98.7. Government Code §§7920.000–7931.000, 7922.535. Complaint: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Complaint.htm. District locator: https://www.dir.ca.gov/asp/doshzipsearch.html. PRA: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/pra-Requests.html and https://www.dir.ca.gov/PRAR/PRARForm.asp. OSHAB: https://www.dir.ca.gov/OSHAB/oshabappealpro.html. High Hazard Unit: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/High-Hazard-Unit.html. Wage claims: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/howtofilewageclaim.htm. OSHA establishment search: https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.html. CSLB public lookup (confirm #1057468 on the site; do not treat this draft as a live license-status finding): https://www.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/CheckLicense.aspx. JusticePrompt.com wage-theft kit (self-help only).
Educational use only — not legal advice, not a filing, and not a final-order finding. Proposed penalties can change on appeal. Verify current statute, license, and docket status before you act.
The Hedge 