If you are familiar with the Old Testament of the Bible, you certainly know the story of David and Goliath. In that story, David (a small statured boy who later becomes the King of Israel) takes down the giant Philistine warrior Goliath by hurling a stone that strikes him in the center of his forehead.

Last August, a roofer by the name of Edwardo was given the nickname “David” when something similar happened on a commercial roofing job. Edwardo was not much taller than 5 feet, and was by far the smallest man on the crew. On the other hand, Duke was a massive man – probably 6 feet 7 inches tall and every bit of 300 lbs.

It was the first day on a new roofing job. There was a lot to do, and everyone had been assigned a task. Edwardo was instructed to operate the power-broom. His coworker, Duke was charged with carrying supplies from the hoist area to where they would be needed on the roof. Both of the men were concentrating on their own task and were paying no attention to what the other was doing… at least that was until one of the stones flung by the power broom struck Duke in the center of his forehead, and dropped him to his knees.

Fortunately, Duke was not injured bad enough to go to the doctor; however the injury could have been much worse. Duke was not wearing safety glasses, and if the stone that stuck him would have been 1 inch lower, it could have caused irreparable eye damage.

DISCUSSION NOTES

Who should wear safety glasses when a power broom is being operated on a roof?

Do we all do a good job at remembering to wear safety glasses when they are needed?

Do you value your coworkers’ safety enough to correct them if they forget, or choose not to wear safety glasses when they are needed?

How close is “too close” to an operating power-broom?

In this incident, what did the operator of the power broom do wrong?

In what other ways can someone get injured while working with (or near) a power broom?