CLEVELAND — Repair and maintenance contractors who service commercial buildings often perform all or part of their work on the roof, which presents several dangers if the roof has not been properly outfitted to prevent falls and protect the safety of workers.

Legacy Roofing Services, one of the largest commercial roofing service providers in the United States, will begin offering fall prevention and safety protection as a standalone service to commercial building owners and facility managers to ensure the safety of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, maintenance, construction and other workers who need to access and work on the roof to do their jobs.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports approximately 37,000 accidents per year resulting in injuries to HVAC and plumbing contractors, with falls, slips and trips being one of the top causes. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), falls are the leading cause of death in construction; out of 1,008 fatalities in 2018, 320 were a result of falls.

Professionals from Legacy Roofing Services will perform safety inspections and assessments, determine work necessary to secure the roof, perform the installations and then certify the roof as OSHA compliant. Many buildings also need rooftop safety installations to obtain ISO 9001 Certification, which sets the criteria for the most widely recognized quality management system for companies to continually improve their business processes.

Hazards to workers on a commercial roof include falling off the roof, tripping over hatches, falling into skylights, electrical shock, loose debris, unsecured ladders, loose tie-off points, unsecured equipment, unclear traffic paths and many other risks specific to the building. In addition, building tenants and passersby may be subject to dangers as a result of poor safety precautions on a commercial roof.

Among the fall prevention and safety protection services offered are:

• Skylight cages and protection
• Safety rails
• Designated material handling areas
• Secure and demarcate hatches
• Controlled access zones
• Dedicated tie-off points and horizontal lifelines
• Designated traffic areas and warning lines
• Secured window washing davits

“As we work with commercial customers to replace, repair and maintain their roofing, we very often see situations that create safety hazards for other contractors who need to be on the roof and are also, in many cases, in violation of OSHA standards,” said Brian Kruse, CEO of Legacy Roofing Services. “Between all the different repair and maintenance contractors who provide services to a commercial building, there can be a surprisingly large number of workers whose jobs involve being on the roof. We saw a tremendous need to offer fall prevention and safety protection as a standalone service regardless of whether or not we are performing any replacement or repair work on the building.”

Legacy Roofing has been ranked as a “Top 100 Roofing Contractor” by RC for the past five years and has been certified, licensed and recognized by every major roofing system manufacturer.