SNOHOMISH, Wash. — A Snohomish-based roofing company is facing more than $300,000 in new fines after a roofer fell from a two-story home and was hospitalized, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) announced.
Asset Roofing & Guttering Inc. was cited by L&I in May of 2025 following an investigation that revealed the worker’s fall protection system failed due to excessive slack in the safety rope. The fall occurred while the employee was installing shingles on a residential project. Despite being equipped with fall protection, the roofer slipped on the underlayment and plummeted to the ground without the system engaging.
Initially, Asset Roofing claimed the fall protection rope had snapped. However, investigators later determined the rope appeared to have been cut after the incident. When L&I inspectors arrived at the scene, only a portion of the rope remained hanging from the back of the roof. The site had been altered, and L&I had to issue a subpoena to obtain the address of the incident.
According to the investigation, the rope not only had excessive slack but also failed to meet required safety standards. Fall protection ropes are mandated to have a minimum breaking strength of 5,000 pounds. The rope in question was rated for just 3,600 pounds.
“Even if there hadn’t been too much slack in the rope, it was not strong enough for the task,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “The owner of Asset Roofing would rather blame the equipment, but after eight fall protection violations in four years, it’s clear this worker was hurt by a blatant disregard for safety. Next time, we could be talking about a fatality.”
The most recent fine totals $322,646. In addition, Asset Roofing owes L&I more than $500,000 in unpaid industrial insurance premiums, prior safety penalties, and wage payment violations.
The company’s history of violations includes numerous fall protection failures. Past citations detail roofers working at heights of 16 feet or more without protection, near unguarded skylights, and above hazardous conditions such as steel spikes or exposed rebar.
L&I noted that money collected from these fines will go into the state’s workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, which supports injured workers and families of those killed on the job.
