Instead of waxing poetic about the year just ended or going on about what may happen in the year to come, I am going to limit this to one topic. Something that is, without question, one of the most important topics for the roofing industry: worker safety — and specifically fall protection. That was “most important,” not “most popular.” So why start the year with a message that will arguably turn many readers off? Because I believe so long as roofers are being injured and killed in falls at work, I am morally bound to speak up about it.
I received a call from an OSHA inspector a few weeks back. It was concerning roofers and fall protection, and the difficulty they were having selling full fall protection to roofers. While I believe in protecting roofing workers from falls, I had to agree with the many roofing contractors this inspector encountered. They were concerned about using personal fall arrest systems due to, among other things, the trip-and-fall hazards they pose during tear off. I argued that roofing work is accomplished by teams and that personal fall arrest systems are designed for use by individuals.