How to Avoid Getting Injured on a Roof: A blog about how to avoid getting injured on a roof while doing your job.
How to Avoid Getting Injured on a Roof
Roof work isn’t a task for individuals who are not trained. Roof work comes with many risks, some grave. Without proper and adequate training, these risks increase. The leading cause of death during roof work is falls, even when professionals are completing these duties that are a bit challenging. It is important that all roof workers follow certain precautions in place to ensure they remain safe while at work.
Evaluate Potential Risks & Hazards
Prior to working on any type of roofing work, individuals should evaluate the area in which they will be working including the roof itself, searching for anything that poses a hazard. Experience doesn’t matter when it comes to outside hazards since they still have the ability to disrupt the work and present dangers. Possible hazards are tree branches, spots on the roof that are weak, large objects, and rocks. The roof worker can increase their chances of performing their job safely just by observing the area prior to beginning their work.
This time prior to performing work allows the worker to remove the hazards if any were located. Workers also have the ability to decide whether these hazards are dangerous enough to have an effect on their work environment. They can then create a work plan and act accordingly. Faulty equipment and rusting are also potential hazards that workers should look out for.
Accomplish Fall Protection Training
Employers have a duty and that is to ensure that all works are ready for the jobs that they are there to perform. Any job that requires workers to be above ground level six feet or more is required to complete fall protection training. One of the things that workers will learn during this training is how to properly use a standing seam safety anchor and how to install a standing seam roof clip spacing. These are things that can decrease their risk of falling. Besides equipment, special techniques and gaining knowledge can greatly prevent injuries from occurring. Workers can also familiarize themselves with OSHA courses on this particular subject to educate themselves on protecting themselves while performing roof work.
Generate a Work Plan
Prior to performing roof work, and right after identifying any potential hazards, a work plan should be generated. This is yet another way to avoid injury and work safely. Workers can gain confidence via a work plan as well as direction when working to complete jobs.
Within the work plan, tasks may consist of being able to find the safest location to access the roof area, identifying all equipment needed, and verifying that all said materials are present. A work plan may also include information on the location of weak spots in the roof relaying this information to all other workers.
Every worker’s position for the roof jobs should be established prior to beginning any work since there will more than likely be more than one person working. Certain things should be discussed relating to who will be overseeing the work, steps they need to take, and who will be assigned to which step to design a more concrete plan.
Check the Weather
The worse part about performing roof work is finding out that a potential storm is on the way while up there working. This is why it is so important for workers to check the weather prior to planning any work to be on the roof. If this step is ignored, it could result in danger that could have been easily avoided.
Bigger storms always pose the biggest risk to roof workers. Additionally, just rainy conditions, in general, can create a less stable work surface for workers that could increase their chance for slips and falls.
Even though the wet ground may seem pretty stable, it becomes less stable on a roof, which is the reason why it poses a huge risk even for those who are properly trained. One slip can result in an injury that could be life-ending or life-changing. Dry conditions are the most suitable for roof work to be performed.
Educate Yourself on Various Categories of Fall Protection
A standing seam roof clamp fall protection can very well prevent injuries. However, workers should be well-versed in fall protection techniques as well. There are four categories in which fall protection falls: positioning, fall arrest, retrieval, and suspension. All workers should have a basic understanding of all four categories since it is an important part of becoming a professional roofer. Educating oneself in these areas is also a huge way to prevent unnecessary injuries.
Safety is always going to be key when working for a company that specializes in roofing work. It is never a good idea to skip over practices that create a safe work environment for workers, even this means taking a little more time to complete the job.