With falls remaining the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the roofing industry, the 12th annual National Safety Stand-Down served as an important reminder that one of the most important objectives companies and their workers can fulfill is ensuring they all arrive home safely.

Held this year from May 5-9, OSHA’s National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction spotlights fall prevention. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, falls resulted in 110 roofing worker deaths in 2023. Those were 82% of the total fatalities in roofing that year.

Throughout the week, OSHA urged employers to pause during the workday to conduct “stand-down” activities, including safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and toolbox talks about hazards. Employers are also encouraged to have discussions about job-specific hazards, like roofing, ladder use and working on scaffolds. 

Among the roofing companies participating this year was Sam Boak & Sons in Youngstown, Ohio. President Sam Boak offered to host the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation's 2025 Stand-Down for Safety event on May 13 at the company's headquarters. 

The event drew more than 100 roofing and construction professionals and featured live safety demonstrations and hands-on training on reducing fall-related incidents.

"Our goal is simple: keep our crews safe so they can go home at the end of the day," said Boak. "That means using the right equipment, staying trained, and always being aware of the risks, especially when working at heights. 

“It was an honor to host the BWC and other regional contractors to help educate them and spread awareness for this important cause,” he added. “We want every job site to be safe, and we believe leadership in safety means sharing knowledge, not just following protocols."

Efforts like this pay off. The Associated Builders and Contractors, a sponsor of Construction Safety Week, published its 2025 Health and Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to construction jobsite health and safety best practices. The report shows companies participating in ABC’s STEP Health and Safety Management System achieve incident rates 658% safer than the Bureau of Labor Statistics construction industry average, reducing total recordable incident rates by 85%.

“Transforming the status quo to set the expectation that all incidents are preventable creates a culture where health and safety are elevated to core values, a moral obligation for employers and employees,” said Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development. “Priorities change frequently, but values remain consistent."

Below are just a few examples of roofing companies around the country taking the time to reinforce safety practices during this year’s event.

Since 2019, Owens Corning has worked with ISN, a leader in contractor and supplier information management services, to require individual contractor workers to complete training through the ISNetworld Online Training tool, helping increase hazard awareness and reduce Serious Injuries and Fatalities onsite.

“To further enhance and streamline the process of verifying contractor compliance with Owens Corning standards, we also use ISNetworld to facilitate the establishment and management of individual contractor worker qualification requirements,” said Geoff Walter, Owens Corning enterprise safety director.

The National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction is part of OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign, developed in conjunction with the Center for Construction Research and Training. Since its launch in 2012, the stand-down initiative has helped train more than 10 million workers on fall prevention.