In another thread, Grant wrote:
> Most residential roofers will never have to deal with OSHA, but I had the good luck to get a job a couple of blocks from their office a number of years ago. Oh, well. This did make me rethink my safety standards, fines or not.
Which leads me to wonder and ask, what are the safety practices, procedures, recommendations, etc. of the various roofers here? Do you have to trade safety for speed in order to be competitive?
— J.S.
Replies
"Do you have to trade safety for speed in order to be competitive?"
In a word, NO
ATTITUDE,
ATTITUDE,
ATTITUDE,
ATTITUDE,
ATTITUDE,
I always had an attitude that it would cost me in slowdowns to employ saftey techniques. Experience taught me that most saftey gear actually increases production on steeper roofs because once a man gets used to the gear, he focuses on production instead of falling.
We all know that roofing is a piecework, production minded job. Anything that gets in the way of production/completion is anathema.
Falls slow production.
Hospital stays slow production.
Deaths really slow production.
There was a roofing outfit in Colorado that had a death and several other falls in a couple of years time. Three of these falls, at least were to a foreman who was the owners brother. This company was almost singlehandedly responsible for increasing the workers comp rate for roofers on the west slope to 47% while it reamined at 41% on the east slope at the same time.
I had the misfortune to work for them for a season but lerft promptly when it became obvious to the owner that I had an "attitude problem".
My attitude was that I was going to go home every night in an upright position, not on a gurney. Not from fear or overly cautious, I've been known to walk an 8/12, but I like to control the risk factors. After all, it's the only body I've got available to me.
Well spoken piffin,
Not only is safety productive, but it is the best place to start making a crew a team .
Monday mornings should start with a safety meeting that turns into a production meeting.On An Island By The SEA
Amen to all of the above.
Besides attitude you have to figure in blissful ignorance, which I suppose is an attitude itself. "I don't know any other way to do it, so there must not be any other way to do it." At least some insurance carriers have been working on this problem by providing safety materials to be discussed during manditory safety meetings and making job site inspections.
One other problem that I have witnessed, is when insurance carriers require X amount of employees to have CPR and First Aid certification, the employers often send the office pesonnel. I've been in at least three classes where I was the only one or one of two people with work clothes on. If the receptionist gets woozy from blood loss from that papercut, the bookeeper will know what to do. If the foreman takes a fall, the whole crew stands around him in a circle asking each other "what do we do?"
Things don't change over night, but in my region when I drive by a residential roofing project I see signs of more safety consciousness, particularly in the safety equipment and proper use of regular equipment departments. Hopefully this will continue to improve and the right people will get the first aid training, not that office personnel doesn't need it.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
OK, back to the first question, what specific equipment and procedures do you recommend? Particularly for working alone, I have visions of dangling like a spider for hours on a harness. Or is never working alone one of the rules?
-- J.S.
It's funny you mention that, because I actually did have to dangle for a while...fortunately, I had a cell phone. Of course, I would have fallen something like 30 or 40 feet had my crazy wife not insisted I wear the harness (and she used to drive by the job site to check). 18/12 pitch, one slip and I was gone (and boy, OSB sure does burn!).
Try an ABC Supply (there located everywhere), they sell Miller fall arrest complete kits (anchors, lines, stops, softstop lanyard, and harness)...I'm thinking my setup, with a bag was about $250 a couple years ago...and the "soft stop", which comes apart at the stitching to slowly let out when you fall really was more of a "gulp stop". Anyhow, that was about $65 to replace.
I find them a slow down and a pain in the ass to work with, and have nearly tripped over my own rope a couple times...however, that still beats a trip to the morgue. Working at heights is like working in any other extreme...takes longer, slower, and you have to be more careful...so it shouldn't be a problem. And carry a cellphone.
I hate the harness, but use one when necessary. My prefered method is to eliminate any place to fall. I either erect scaffolding to the eave when working with a crew or use a boom lift when working alone (which is more frequent, recently). The scaffold creates a work area and a place to store tools and materials. The boom lift can be manuvered to where I can perform many operations without leaving the basket (which also holds tools and materials, radio, cooler, etc.). If I do have to leave the basket, I park it where if I slip, the worst case scenario is I wind up back in the basket. This machine also hoists my materials to wherever I need them, when I need them. If I forgot something on the ground - no big deal- I just ride down and get it. I often hang gutter by myself with a lift (25' sections) where I had to have at least two helpers to hold it before. When these helpers were not holding the gutter they were mostly watching me solder. The rental on a machine like this is less than what the two helpers cost and much safer than the predicaments I got us into trying to hurry to keep everyone busy. I also don't get as fatigued riding as I did climbing. Fatigue often leads to shortcuts that may have not been considered if a person was a little fresher.
Someone on the job site needs first aid training and the proper first aid kits should always be available.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
Edited 4/24/2002 8:26:05 PM ET by grantlogan
My wife's an RN and has never questioned my purchases of safety gear. I find it annoying sometimes to shell out good money for something that doesn't cut or nail or sand or move dirt, but her argument is that one trip to the emergency room can far exceed the cost of some good safety devices. (Not to mention, lost time, screwed up work schedules, pain and suffering and everything else).
I'm a little adrift from the original post here, so I'll just say get familiar with the OSHA codes for what you're doing and gear up with good, approved stuff. For occasional use, renting can be OK....BUT, check the stuff out closely that you're renting. Sometimes the rental yard guys aren't very attentive to details.Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with a piece of chalk and cut it with an axe.
I've got a brand new machine (or it was 7 mos. ago) and get it serviced and checked as necessary. Actually, I'm going to purchase it when my rental is up. That's good advise, though. I've gotten to know the service department people well (I've had one of these machines almost constantly for several years) and ask a lot of questions about what to watch for. They are very helpful and concerned about my safety as well - they don't want claims against them either.
gl
Work hard, play hard, sleep hard, wear glasses if you need 'em.
Edited 4/24/2002 9:57:29 PM ET by grantlogan
We don't have OSHA in Russia, but our roofs are much steeper than yours. This is what I would recommend:
1. Tarp the ground area and shrubs before starting any tearoff. Assign one guy to pick up all nails with magnetic sweep. You'll cut down on punctures through boots, not to mention flat tires on you stake truck.
2. Use a Roofers Harness. These are $200 rigs which you can buy from any roofing supply house, that nail tight to rafters and decks and provide positive protection against falls.
3. Protective clothing. Knee pads (I borrow my wife's) and saftey glasses are probably applicable for roofing.
Or you can do what we do, which is get some old pea stained mattresses and line them up around the perimeter of the house!
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927