The predominance of skylight fatal falls occur on roofs where there was no permanent guarding device initially installed by the property owner and where there is no provision in subsequent repair contracts to install either permanent or temporary OSHA-compliant protective devices.
OSHA regulates roof skylight safety by means of both Part 1910 (General Industry) as well as Part 1926 (Construction). A majority of roofing firms who perform small repairs and miscellaneous replacements on skylight roofs are especially hard hit by these regulations. Their rooftop exposure for a 10-square repair may be limited to a day or two and their material/labor/equipment budgets are usually very tight. These are generally the roofers with the highest skylight hazard exposures and skylight fall accident rates, because there are few practical, affordable TEMPORARY skylight protection systems for pitched or flat roofs available on the market today. Sometimes a larger contractor hired to completely replace a 300-square warehouse roof may have the ability to bid his project scope to include compliant and adequate skylight protection.