In this Safety Talk, I will describe an incident that happens far too frequently on roofing jobs throughout the country. In almost all of these incidents, an employee either died or suffered life-altering injuries and a co-worker was left with lifelong regret. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching reality about these incidents is simply how foreseeable and preventable they are.
Picture what I would consider to be a nearly ideal roofing jobsite – a commercial flat roof with interior roof access, 45” tall parapet walls, the perfect weather, and a crew in which everyone gets along well. Although there is one roof opening where a roof-mounted HVAC unit will be placed, it is covered with ¾ inch plywood which has been secured in-place with screws.
As it comes to the point in the job to work on the curbing for the HVAC unit, one employee removes the screws and then calls to a coworker saying, “Hey, can you move over here and give me a hand moving this sheet of plywood.” In reply, the other employee shouts “No problem.” Together, they pick up the piece of plywood and (failing to remember why that piece of plywood had been placed there – or thinking that there is another piece of plywood serving as the hole cover) he takes one step forward and falls straight through the roof opening.
DISCUSS WITH YOUR CREW
Ask your crew “What went wrong?” and give them time to think of the following issues on their own. Although they will likely have some other thoughts, be sure to discuss the following issues in detail.
First, there should have been better communication between the two workers moving the plywood. The person who removed the screws should have warned his coworker of the hazard and instructed him to side-step to move the plywood off the roof opening.
Second, nothing in the above scenario indicated that there was anything written on the plywood cover. Hole covers must have the words “HOLE” or “COVER” painted on them to warn all employees that it is not just a piece of plywood lying on the roof but is serving an important safety function. This is not simply a good idea, but an OSHA requirement. Furthermore, if you have non-English speaking employees, it should also be painted in a language that they can read and understand.
Third, because the hole cover was being removed, it created a condition that needed to be addressed by the use of fall protection even though the perimeter of the roof was protected by parapet walls. Think about the various options. Due to the nature of the task that the two men were performing, erecting guardrails around the roof opening would not have been practical. Although warning lines and a safety monitor may have been an “acceptable” approach, it would have been necessary to place the warning lines distant enough from the roof opening as to not create a hazard for the roofers handling the plywood, and would have required an additional employee to serve as a safety monitor. Of course, an even safer approach would have been to have both the employees removing the plywood use a personal fall arrest system.