Right Outside Our Kitchen Window

Nothing is easy.

They’re rebuilding the house next door — right outside our kitchen window.

Last week they had guys up too high on the roof for a short time — right outside our kitchen window —  which I did nothing about.

A few days later they were sawing stone paving tiles — right next to our driveway. I could barely see the workers through the thick clouds of silica dust in their faces. I called the company to remind them that silica causes cancer that they’re in violation of OSHA standards. That afternoon, one guy continued sawing while three guys with little plastic water bottles poured water on the blade. It seemed to help a bit. But the next day, my daughter saw them out there again sawing in clouds of dust.

This morning they’ve got a bunch of roofers up a good 25 feet or more, with no fall protection — right outside my kitchen window. I called the company again and spoke with the supervisor (or owner). He promised to take care of it. They all came down, then half an hour later, they’re back up, sporting harnesses — but not tied off.

I was fed up and filed a complaint with Maryland OSHA, and emailed the inspector who covers this area. He came out within an hour and saw the workers on the roof with no fall protection (and apparently some other problems inside).

While they were still there, my phone rings. It’s the supervisor (or owner) of the construction company. He’s been very friendly in the past, chatty and occasionally lending us stuff.

But now he’s screaming at me — how they’ve tried to be nice and considerate to us (true), how unfriendly I was to call OSHA, how they were actually in compliance (despite my lying eyes — and the OSHA inspector’s), how much time this is going to waste (not as much as a death or serious injury), how I should have talked to him first before calling OSHA (which I did),  how this is slowing the job down, the penalties he would face, and how everyone in this town is like that — obstructing business, etc., etc.

I kept explaining that a) I was just trying to save lives, and b) the problem isn’t my fault; it’s his non-compliance. And as much as I hate confrontation and he’s a nice guy and everything, I can’t keep looking out my window at workers who could fall to their death at any moment.

Continuing by text and ending with him remarking that “It’s nice to have [an] Inspector on top of your head. I thought you have other things do do in life.”

I responded that actually, this is what I’ve been doing my entire life … and I’m still doing it.

In retrospect, I probably should have warned him when he started the job that I have an unsavory reputation as the scourge of local contractors. My bad. Sorry. Not sorry.

Do It Yourself

If you think all of this sounds like fun and you want to become the scourge of your neighborhood (and save workers’ lives),  check out my handy “Do it Yourself Guide” to being a pain in the ass to local construction contractors  Let me know how it goes for you….