A Saucier-based roofing company racked up 10 citations and was assessed more than $82,000 in penalties by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an incident at Mississippi University for Women that killed a worker in Columbus last year.

The company settled with OSHA for about half that amount, according to inspection details available on OSHA’s website and the case status remains open.

OSHA also cited the company for similar violations at an Alabama jobsite a few months before the fatal fall at The W.

Ignacio Hernandez, 47, of Jackson, an employee of Chavez Roofing LLC, was replacing Painter Hall’s roof at The W on July 28 when he fell and died. Chavez Roofing LLC was a subcontractor with Roofing Solutions LLC for the roof replacement work, said Sofia Fernandez, compliance manager with Roofing Solutions LLC.

His fall was believed to have been caused because his safety equipment failed, Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant told The Dispatch at the time.
OSHA’s Jackson office investigated the incident and, in January, found Chavez Roofing LLC to be in violation of multiple safety regulations, with six of the violations serious enough to warrant penalties.

OSHA fined Chavez Roofing for allowing Hernandez to use a body belt as a personal fall-arrest system and for not inspecting the damaged green rope he used to tether himself. Those violations made up $33,100 of the penalties.

As of Jan. 1, 1998, a body belt was no longer acceptable as a part of a personal fall-arrest system on work sites, according to OSHA’s safety standards listed on its website. Employers are also responsible for inspecting each part of the fall-arrest system for “wear, damage and other deterioration,” according to those standards.

Chavez Roofing was also cited for Hernandez improperly attaching the body belt to his stomach rather than the center of his back, though OSHA levied no penalty for that violation.

Chavez Roofing was assessed an additional $9,362 in penalties related to having two open containers of gasoline near a transformer at the worksite, for not having a written hazard communication program for chemical usage and for not having a person with valid first-aid certification on site.

OSHA also cited Chavez Roofing for failing to label those gasoline canisters, not properly training workers on handling chemicals in the work area or having a safety data sheet at the worksite, which outlines safe handling of chemicals like gasoline. OSHA levied no penalties for those three violations.

Repeat violation

OSHA’s largest penalty against the roofing company was $39,720 for violations related to not having proper fall protections in place for its workers. That violation was noted as a repeat offense by the company from an inspection five months earlier in Madison, Alabama.

According to OSHA’s safety standards listed on its website, employers with crews working on steep roofs with unprotected sides are required to ensure workers’ safety with “guardrail systems with toeboards, safety net systems or personal fall-arrest systems.”

Chavez Roofing LLC was investigated on March 4, 2025, by OSHA’s Birmingham office while performing roof work at an elementary school, according to inspection details on OSHA’s website.

Chavez Roofing was cited for five violations of safety regulations in the March investigation, with two of them resulting in penalties totaling $12,295.
Those two citations included the worksite not having proper fall protection for workers. Additionally, the ladder workers used to access the school’s roof did not extend the required three feet or more above the landing surface.

The company was also cited for failing to have a written certification of fall protection training for its employees, for exposing employees to potential fall hazards without proper protection and for not training employees to recognize potential ladder-related fall hazards. OSHA did not levy penalties for those three citations.

No injuries are listed on the OSHA report for the Alabama citations.

Representatives from Chavez Roofing LLC did not return calls from or messages by press time Friday.