Ten years ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) started a national event to spread awareness and help prevent fatal falls on construction sites. It not only identified the leading cause of jobsite fatalities across America, but highlighted the importance of getting the safety conversation started in roofing yards and warehouses, said RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney.

In this latest Legal Insights episode, Cotney talks about the impact a decade of staying focused on safety has made for roofing, and how far the industry still needs to go. Listen to the entire conversation here.

In this episode, legal expert Trent Cotney of Adams and Reese dives into how roofing contractors should create company policies for using artificial intelligence like Chat GPT.

California regulators recently changed their approach to lead in older buildings by implementing rules with the lowest-permissible exposure limit introduced yet. That has enormous impact for roofers and other renovation and restoration contractors across the state, and possibly beyond, according to Trent Cotney, partner at Adams & Reese.

“Although this may be isolated to California now, my concern is that it’s picked up nationally,” Cotney warned in this brief episode. “The standard is so low that it’s pretty much a giant dragnet for anyone doing repairs on older structures.”

Hear the entire conversation here.

Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have been talking about increased enforcement on construction jobsites for months. Now they have a new tool. Beginning March 30, OSHA will be able to issue the equivalent of U- or T-level visas, which provide immigration status to noncitizens while assisting with workplace safety investigations.

“From an employer’s standpoint, it’s bad news,” said RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney, partner with Adams & Reese. “Illegal immigrants that are working for you could see this as an opportunity to flip and potentially provide testimony that’s adverse to you in the event of safety violations.”

Listen to the entire conversation here.

HILTI recently released 30 new products, and there are even more to come. RC Publisher Jill Bloom met with Matt Jackson, senior director of electric tools and accessories at HILTI, to discuss the new products.

One of the unforeseen consequences of the supply crunch the roofing industry endured last year appears to be continued price volatility when it comes to materials this year. But it’s not scarcity of raw materials or demand driving prices this time. Its storage costs, says RC Legal RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney.

“The demand has decreased but the supply is abundant,” said Cotney, partner with Adams & Reese. “There’s still a market adjustment and still a little pain to go through.” Listen to the entire conversation here.

The true impact of the devastating chemical train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, won’t be known for years. A second, less severe derailment was also reported over the weekend, prompting questions about the safety of transportation infrastructure in the United States. If roofing contractors don’t think these accidents will have an impact on workplace safety regulations, they should think again, said RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney.

“It is a big, big deal, and this should be a wakeup call,” said Cotney, partner with Adams & Reese. “We need to look at everything from our infrastructure to the training because you can’t have stuff like this happen. I think you’re going to see more regulation coming out after this accident.”

Cotney also discussed where contractors can go to get the resources they need get emergency plans and a hazardous materials plan in place to protect their workers and the public. Listen to the entire conversation here.