Toward a safer industry | As I was saying …Bill Good
We've come a long way in a decade.
As a rule, we're operating more safely and smarter, and we have
some encouraging data to support this. We know, for example, the
number of claims from falls involving CNA-insured roofing
contractors has declined from 262 in 2002 to 63 in 2011. That's a
huge improvement, which, by the way, was occurring long before the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration decided to change its
fall-protection rules. Sixty-three falls still are way too many,
but we're learning more about the nature of the falls, most notably
that falls from ladders are more of a problem than we might have
thought.
There is a similar trend with fire-related claims thanks in no
small measure to the CERTA
training program that now has seen about 20,000 applicators go
through full-day training courses.
The picture, of course, is not all rosy. Injuries related to
material handling continue to be a problem. Traffic accidents have
ticked up, with some serious claims stemming from distracted
drivers sending text messages. And our industry's demographics
don't help; older roofing workers are more likely to be injured on
the job than younger ones—and we now have more older...
To read the article in its entirety, please log in or register (registration is free).
Log in or register for FREE access to this article and other Professional Roofing online content.