Roofing safety issues include falling, lack of training and failing to understand regulatory compliance.
The United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that worker deaths from falls is a serious public health problem. Roofing safety issues fall under OSHA's construction industry standards, which require employers to provide fall protection any time workers are at a height of six feet or higher and always when working over dangerous equipment and machinery. Numerous safety issues in roofing work are addressed in OSHA regulations to keep workers safe and prevent injury and fatality. Does this Spark an idea?
Risk of Falling and Electrocution
Working at heights greater than a few feet involves the risk of falling, with resulting injury and possible death. Roofing work necessitates working at heights, on sloping surfaces, with power equipment, all risk factors for falling. Electrocution is also a serious safety issue in roofing because working at heights potentially puts workers in closer proximity to power lines, electrical boxes and cables. Equipment raised at heights near electrical sources may collide with power sources with disastrous results. Training on fall protection systems and equipment and electrical hazards, plus site inspection and preparation before work starts address these serious roofing safety issues.
Using Equipment at Heights
Using equipment at heights presents additional worker safety issues than when using the same equipment on ground level. Power nail guns, screw guns, hoisting devices, lift equipment, heavy tools such as hammers and crowbars and hand tools like vise grips require dexterity and concentration to use safely, which can be challenging while working at heights. Hazards to workers on the ground under roofing work include injury from falling tools, equipment and heavy materials like sheets of roofing shingles. Falling object protection is as important as fall protection equipment in roofing.
Failure to Understand and Comply with Regulatory Requirements
A series of roofing safety issues result when employers and workers fail to understand and comply with regulatory requirements. An employer who doesn't provide fall protection equipment and properly train workers use it puts workers at risk for injury and fatality, and risks OSHA fines and legal problems. Workers who haven't been trained in safety can't always recognize safety hazards to prevent them or work in compliance with safety regulations. It's important for managers, supervisors, superintendents, foremen and other supervisory personnel in roofing to know about, understand and comply with safety regulations, and train their workers on them before starting any roofing job.
Training
Workers who don't know use fall protection equipment are at risk of accidents and injury. Improperly secured fall prevention systems, hoisting devices and scaffolding that is set up improperly are almost as dangerous as working without protective equipment. Employers are required to provide training on safety, proper use of protective equipment and inspection by trained, competent personnel for equipment when working at heights.
Tags: fall protection, safety issues, working heights, fall protection equipment, protection equipment
