When an OSHA inspector visits a roofing job site, a contractor should know what to expect
by Ken Brown, CSP
It's a scenario no roofing contractor wants to experience—standing on a roof's edge and watching a white car pull into the parking lot of a job site. The person who gets out of the car puts on a hard hat, and the letters on the hard hat spell "OSHA."
Imagining such a scene is enough to make a roofing contractor's stomach turn. Typically, a contractor confronted with such a situation immediately will look around the site to see whether the crew is using safety equipment and following regulations and ask himself: "Are we in compliance? Do I have a copy of the company's safety program here?"
The visit
If an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspector drives by a roofing job site and sees someone standing at the roof's edge, for example, the inspector probably will pull over and begin to videotape or photograph the project. Once finished, the inspector most likely will visit the job site.
When an OSHA inspector visits a roofing project, a contractor has the right to refuse entry to the site. If that happens, the OSHA inspector can obtain a warrant to inspect the project. During this time, a contractor may be tempted to correct problems on the project, but if the inspector finds out, the contractor may be liable for a willful violation. Refusing access is risky—an inspector probably will judge a project more harshly if he was forced to obtain a warrant.
Once an OSHA inspector arrives at a job site, he is required to present his credentials and indicate the reason for the inspection. If a site is being visited as a result of a programmed inspection, the inspector will request to see the company's safety program. A safety program is the only item an OSHA inspector initially will review.
Programmed inspections are conducted in high-hazard industries, such as roofing. These inspections allow OSHA to concentrate its enforcement efforts on those industries that need it the most. An OSHA inspector also may ask for a safety program when conducting other types of inspections, which include imminent danger, catastrophes and fatal accidents, employee complaints and follow-up inspections.
A company's safety program will be reviewed for content, and if an inspector believes the program is adequate according to OSHA standards, the roofing project only will receive a focused inspection. A focused inspection concentrates on four areas: falls, electrocutions and injuries resulting from workers being struck or crushed by objects.
If a safety program does not meet OSHA's expectations, an inspector may conduct a comprehensive inspection, sometimes referred to as a wall-to-wall inspection. In this case, an inspector will look at all potential hazards on a site, as well as talk to employees to determine how well they have been trained regarding OSHA's regulatory requirements.
A roofing contractor must be sure he is prepared to address all questions an OSHA inspector may pose, as well as know how to be in compliance.
Contractors should note that the following information encompasses only some of OSHA's requirements. For more specific information, roofing professionals should contact OSHA or the author.
Focused inspections
Falls
For a roofing project, the first areas an OSHA inspector probably will study during a focused inspection are fall protection and a company's related safety measures. Although it may seem as if fall protection is easy to address (i.e., workers should use fall-protection equipment), lack of fall protection still remains the No. 1 safety violation in the roofing industry, according to OSHA statistics. Each employee must be protected against fall-related hazards, even during the job-setup stage.
To meet OSHA's fall-protection requirements, the first thing that should be brought to a roof is a fall-protection system (e.g., warning-line system, guardrails).
If warning lines are used, they should be flagged at least every 6 feet (1.8 m) and have minimum tensile strengths of 500 pounds (2.22 kN). (Most contractors purchase warning lines with flags attached.) A warning line must be no higher than 39 inches (991 mm) above a working surface, and its sag must be no less than 34 inches (864 mm) from a working surface. In addition, warning lines must be no closer than 6 feet (1.8 m) to a roof's edge.
If mechanical equipment is used on a roof system, warning lines that are perpendicular to workers' direction of travel (i.e., the lines that workers are facing or backing into when using mechanical equipment) must be at least 10 feet (3 m) from a roof's edge.
If warning lines are used, a hoisting area should be erected so an employee can stand at a roof's edge and signal to a crane operator hoisting material onto the roof. The hoisting area should be erected with guardrails at the roof's edge, and warning lines should be tied from each end of the guardrail system back to the work area.
A hoisting area consists of a guardrail located at the edge of a roof that is capable of withstanding 200 pounds of force (890 N) in any direction. The guardrail's top rail must be between 39 inches and 45 inches (991 mm and 1143 mm) from a work surface, and its midrail must be between the top rail and working surface. A worker should signal a crane operator to set a load either in the area protected by a warning line or lower it to the hoisting area. Employees must wear hard hats when loads are above them.
If crew members need to work outside warning lines (e.g., to work on roofing edge details), the workers must be protected from fall hazards. Such protection includes using guardrails at a roof's edge, personal fall-arrest systems or safety monitors. A roofing worker assigned to act as a safety monitor must watch employees working outside warning lines and warn them as they get closer to a roof's edge.
Although OSHA allows safety monitors to perform other activities (except in some OSHA state-plan states such as Washington and California), a safety monitor must be able to see and verbally warn the employees he is monitoring. Once a safety monitor turns his back to workers, a company is in violation and will be cited if an OSHA inspector witnesses such activity.
When personal fall-arrest systems are used, OSHA requires workers to be in body harnesses with lanyards and locking snap hooks. All components of a personal fall-arrest system must have minimum tensile strengths of 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN) and limit falls to less than 6 feet (1.8 m).
In addition, OSHA requires anchoring points to be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (2250 kg) per employee, which makes it difficult to find adequate anchoring points on a roof without tying into structures underneath it.
Although contractors may be tempted to use ventilation pipes or other rooftop penetrations as anchoring points, extreme caution must be exercised because those types of rooftop equipment may provide inadequate protection.
OSHA defines a steep-slope roof as any roof having a slope greater than 4-in-12 (33 percent). When personal fall-arrest systems are used for steep-slope roofing projects, ridge hooks typically serve as anchoring points. A contractor should follow a fall-arrest system's manufacturer's guidelines for proper installation to ensure the system will support 5,000 pounds (2250 kg) per employee.
Steep-slope roofing contractors should note that OSHA adjusted its steep-slope requirements by developing guidelines that allow the use of roofing slide guards. However, the slide-guard option is considered part of the interim guidelines and not part of the current standard. This means that states with state-plan OSHA agencies are not required to adopt the guidelines.
For the slide-guard option, OSHA allows slide guards to be used on roofs with slopes that are 8-in-12 (67 percent) or less and have ground-to-eave heights of 25 feet (7.5 m) or less. (If a roof exceeds these limits, conventional fall-protection methods must be used.) Slide guards, which are roof jacks with 2- by 6-inch (51- by 152-mm) (nominal) boards, must be installed continuously along an eave at an angle of 90 degrees plus or minus 10 degrees to the roof. If a roof's slope is greater than 6-in-12 (50 percent), additional slide guards must be installed at intervals not exceeding 8 feet (2.4 m). The additional slide guards can be more horizontal than the slide guards along the eave.
OSHA's fall-protection standard requires employees to be trained, and the training must be documented through certification. (A contractor can certify his employees after they complete training.) Retraining must occur when a contractor believes his employees lack understanding of the standard's requirements.
Electrical hazards
Electrical hazards are other items an OSHA inspector looks for during a focused inspection. OSHA particularly is concerned about missing ground pins from hand tools and extension cords. Employees should tag cords and equipment that have missing ground pins and remove such equipment from service.
OSHA also requires that extension cords be double-insulated, which means each of the three wires in an extension cord are individually insulated and then insulated by an outer coating. The words "double-insulated" will be written on a tool, or a square within a square will be found on a tool's label.
Flat-wire cords never should be used because they are not double-insulated—they are similar to extension cords used in homes. If flat-wire cords are found on a project, they must be removed.
To prevent electrocution, OSHA requires a contractor to implement either an assured-grounding program or use ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) on-site. When properly administered and used, GFCIs will protect employees from electrocution.
OSHA requires that an assured-grounding program be a written program that indicates the specific procedures that will be used to test and inspect cords and tools. (Double-insulated tools do not need to be part of an assured-grounding program.) Each cord and tool must be visually inspected daily before it is used. If equipment exhibits any damage, such as missing ground pins or exposed wires, it must be removed from service and repaired before its next use.
In addition to a visual inspection, a continuity test must be conducted on each cord. This test determines whether a cord's ground wire is continuous throughout the entire cord and not broken or separated from its terminals or pins on either end. For a tool, the same test is conducted to determine whether the ground wire is attached internally to the ground pin at the end of its cord. If the test indicates that a ground wire is not attached appropriately, the tool must be removed from service until it is repaired.
A continuity test must be conducted on each cord and tool before its first use; when the equipment is returned to service after repairs; when equipment is used after any incident that could have damaged it; and at intervals not to exceed three months.
OSHA also requires that outlets that are not part of a permanent structure, such as in a job trailer, be tested by plugging a receptacle circuit tester into the outlet. Such tests will indicate if an outlet's polarity and ground are wired properly. The outlets must be checked every three months.
Contractors should note that a GFCI can be used instead of an assured-grounding program. A GFCI must be placed at the source of electricity, not closest to a tool.
Typically, generators greater than 5 kW are equipped with GFCIs. Generators are not required to be equipped with GFCIs if they are rated less than 5 kW when their outlets and circuit conductors are insulated from the generator frame. A portable GFCI should be plugged into a generator, and extension cords then can be plugged into the GFCI.
Although not required by OSHA, a contractor should test a GFCI while equipment is operating to ensure the circuit trips. This can be accomplished by pressing the test button while a tool is on. If power is cut off, the GFCI is working properly. If the tool does not shut off when the test button is pressed, the GFCI must be removed from service until repairs are made.
In addition to electrical dangers caused by tools, ladders near overhead electric lines pose hazards that often are overlooked. For example, a roofing worker never should place a ladder in the vicinity of an overhead line because he has a greater chance of touching the line. Also, a ladder near a line can cause electricity to arc from the line to the ladder.
Struck-by injuries
Another area an OSHA inspector examines during a focused inspection is hazards where employees are exposed to objects that can strike and injure them. Generally, struck-by hazards occur during hoisting operations or when something falls.
If a crane is used to place materials on a roof, outriggers must be deployed to keep the crane from tipping. Cribbing, used to disperse a crane's weight across a larger area, should be used to keep outriggers from sinking into the ground. It particularly is important to use outriggers on asphalt, especially during the summer, because asphalt can soften, causing a crane to shift. It generally is good practice for a contractor to use outriggers and cribbing at all times, regardless of ground stability.
Often, when a crane operator is placing a load on a roof, his vision is obstructed. As a result, it is important to have a worker on the roof using fall protection and giving signals to the operator. As a load is lifted to the roof, the worker should make sure all unnecessary crew members are away from the landing area. Also, workers on the ground must not be under the load.
OSHA also requires employees to be protected from falling objects. At a minimum, employees who are exposed to falling objects must wear hard hats. Some optional measures against falling objects include erecting toe boards, screens or guardrail systems; installing a canopy structure and keeping materials away from a roof's edge; and erecting a barricade on the ground to keep employees from entering a potentially dangerous area.
Crushing
The last area an OSHA inspector will review during a focused inspection is related to situations where an employee can get caught between objects or be crushed. For roofing projects, this hazard can exist when mechanical equipment (e.g., all-terrain vehicles, dump carts) is used.
An OSHA inspector will review a vehicle operator's actions to see how close the vehicle comes to other roofing workers. Ideally, paths should be established for vehicles, and other roofing workers should be kept out of the vehicles' paths. In addition, when all-terrain vehicles are used, guardrails must be placed at the roof's edge in the area where the vehicles approach the roof.
Another item an OSHA inspector will look for is machine guarding. A contractor should be sure motorized equipment has guards in place to prevent someone from being caught in the equipment's moving parts.
Comprehensive inspections
As mentioned, an OSHA inspector probably will conduct a comprehensive inspection if he believes a roofing company's safety program is inadequate or not being followed. Following are some items OSHA inspectors examine during comprehensive inspections.
Ladders
Improper ladder use commonly is cited by OSHA inspectors. To comply with OSHA, a ladder must be placed so its base is away from a structure at a distance that is one-fourth the structure's height. A ladder also must be placed so that at least three rungs are above the structure's top. If a ladder cannot extend more than 3 feet (0.9 m) above that level, a hand hold must be provided to assist employees on and off the ladder.
Also, a ladder must be secure from movement. This can be accomplished by tying off the ladder as close to the structure's top as possible. Some contractors secure ladders at ground level to prevent them from kicking out. Ladders must be inspected and, if found defective, removed from service until repaired.
OSHA's Ladder and Stairway Standard, Subpart X, requires employees to be trained to recognize hazards associated with ladder use.
General safety issues
Because OSHA also requires roofing contractors to implement, at a minimum, accident-prevention programs, inspection of yards and current projects must occur frequently.
An OSHA inspector will look for hazards for which a contractor has not implemented any safe work practices. A typical example is when skylights are present on a roof system and a contractor does not take any precautions (e.g., using guardrails) to prevent employees from falling through them. Another example is when an employee mistakenly uses equipment outside a warning-line system. If a roofing company does not have written safety work practices, an OSHA inspector will issue a citation.
A roofing company should have a safety program that addresses safe work practices for all hazards encountered on a job site.
Hazard communication
OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard remains one of the most frequently cited standards in the roofing industry. Contractors must develop and implement written programs that address the following:
- Container labeling
- Material safety data sheets (MSDSs)
- Chemical inventory lists
- Employee training
- Nonroutine tasks
OSHA requires all containers to be labeled. Sometimes, contractors do not label portable 5-gallon (19-L) gasoline cans because they often color code cans. For example, a red can could be used for gasoline, a yellow can for diesel fuel and a blue can for kerosene. However, this is not adequate container labeling according to OSHA.
A label, which must be legible and written in English, must state what hazardous material is being contained and provide hazard warnings in the form of words, pictures, symbols or a combination of those. A label also must provide physical and health hazards associated with the hazardous material. Most safety-supply companies can provide contractors with appropriate labels.
Recently, OSHA changed its MSDS requirements. OSHA now allows MSDSs to be faxed to a job site, which means a contractor does not need to have an MSDS for each chemical on each job site. However, if a crew does not have access to a fax machine, MSDSs will need to be at each job site.
In addition, a chemical inventory list must be developed and kept with a company's written hazard communication program. Each chemical listed in the inventory must have a corresponding MSDS. Although not required by OSHA, it is a good idea for a contractor to record the following for all chemicals used: manufacturer's name, emergency telephone number for roofing workers to call, date an MSDS was received and how a chemical typically is used.
OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard also requires that each employee be trained, and the training must be completed before an employee's first assignment or whenever a new chemical that has health hazards will be used in a work area.
All roofing workers must be trained so they understand OSHA's requirements, operations where hazardous chemicals can be introduced, and the location and availability of the roofing company's written hazard communication program. Employees also must be trained to detect a chemical's presence or release, such as how it smells or looks. Roofing workers must be trained to understand the physical and health hazards associated with hazardous materials and how they can safeguard themselves by using personal protective equipment or appropriate work practices, for example.
Nonroutine tasks are those tasks that employees typically do not perform. For example, if a field worker is injured and has restricted work duties, he should not be assigned to help other workers in the shop because he may be exposed to chemicals in the shop that he had not encountered on roof systems. Because shop work would be considered a nonroutine task in this case, OSHA would require the employee to be trained on the new hazards.
As with all training, hazard communication training should be documented. The documentation should indicate the topic, date, trainer's name and attendees' signatures.
Worth the effort
Roofing projects are vulnerable to OSHA inspections—it is important that all employees follow company safety rules and OSHA standards. If a worker is outside a warning line without the use of a safety monitor or exposed to other fall hazards while an OSHA inspector is driving by, an inspection almost is guaranteed.
Ken Brown is NRCA's director of risk management.
What a roofing contractor can do
According to the National Roofing Legal Resource Center (NRLRC), during an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection, a contractor has the right to:
- Accompany the inspector on the walk-through inspection.
- Identify areas that may reveal company trade secrets and request that information obtained in those areas be protected as confidential.
- Receive a photocopy of the complaint that prompted the investigation.
NRLRC also suggests contractors adhere to the following guidelines during an OSHA inspection. A contractor should:
- Record the OSHA inspector's name and identification number, as well as obtain a business card.
- Take photographs of the inspector in the areas he inspects, as well as the areas inspected.
- Tape conversations with the inspector or take complete notes of everything the inspector does and says, as well as what is said to him. A contractor also should be sure to take notes of all questions the inspector asks and the answers given.
- State his general intention to comply in good faith with all applicable requirements. A contractor should be cooperative but not volunteer information.
- Instruct employees to close and lock toolboxes. This may help avoid citations for tools in disrepair that are not being used on a job site.
- Say little about company policies because the information may be used against the company if a citation is contested. However, if a contractor has a clear case of employee disregard of a company safety rule, the contractor may be able to persuade the inspector not to issue a citation by presenting evidence of company safety rules and disciplinary action taken to enforce the rules.
- Deny complete access to personnel records, except for those relevant to an employee who may have claimed discrimination.
- Have available all required documents and make sure they can be accessed easily. These include an OSHA log (OSHA Form 200), OSHA supplementary record (OSHA Form 101), hazard communication plan and notebook, and medical reports, among others.
- Have available additional materials that are not required but will be helpful to demonstrate compliance, such as training materials (including second-language translation) and documentation of regularly held safety meetings.
For more information about how contractors can protect themselves during inspections, roofing professionals should contact Ken Brown, NRCA's director of risk management, at (847) 299-9070, ext. 262.
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