Like many others in the past, this Safety Talk tells of an incident in which a roofer was injured on the job. When listening to what happened, think about the roofing jobs that you have been on in your career. Have you made similar mistakes and placed yourself at risk?
During the summer of 2009 Juan and Stan were on a roofing crew that had been working on a school roof. The job was almost finished. In fact, most of the men who had worked on that job had already moved onto the next job. But Juan and Stan had to do some finish work around a couple of air conditioner units. So on that particular day, they were the only two men on the roof.
About an hour into the workday, Juan asked Stan to go over to the gang box at the edge of roof, near the ladder to get a screwdriver. As Stan made it to the gang box, Juan shouted for him to get some screws as well. For what was probably no more than a second or two, Stan took his mind of what he is doing and tripped over a board left near the gang box. When he tripped, he lost his balance and fell forward – right over the edge of the roof. Fortunately for Stan, he was able to grab onto the ladder. Also fortunately for Stan, the ladder was tied-off. By grabbing the ladder, he prevented what could have very likely been a fatal fall. However he was not without injury. After getting back onto the roof his shoulder hurt. Juan drove him to the hospital, where Stan was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder.
DISCUSSION NOTES
- From this account of the incident, we know that Stan was not wearing a personal fall arrest system. But we don’t know if there was a safety line. If there was a safety line system being used, what procedures were not being followed?
- The gang box was apparently stored at the roof’s edge. What is wrong with that practice? Do you ever store items near the roof’s edge?
- Not only should supplies be stored away from the edge of the roof, they also should not be stored near the ladder. Do we keep the area around ladders on our jobsites free of obstructions and trip hazards?
- Good housekeeping and regularly picking up supplies may have prevented Stan from tripping on a board. How well do we do on housekeeping on roofs?
When you get back to work today, pick up trash and supplies that could pose a trip hazard. Make sure that all supplies are stored away from the roof’s edge. Make sure that everyone is adhering to our company’s fall protection policy, and that everyone on the job is using some form of fall protection when at least 6 feet above the ground. Also look at your ladder and make sure it is tied off. Hopefully you will not using the ladder as Stan did.
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