Posts
244
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Sarasota, FL, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2012 10:01pm
I'm a roofing contractor, and am not thrilled at all with the new regulations. Rediculous is not even close. Anybody else dealing with this? Seems like just another way for the government to collect a shitload of revenue from fines off the working man. Let's start a revolution!!!
oh, never mind.
Curious though, how many guys get hurt due to falls in your business?
Roofing
Low-slope Roofs
Each employee engaged in roofing activities on low-slope roofs with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet (1.8 meters) or more above lower levels shall be protected from falling by guardrail systems, safety net systems, personal fall arrest systems or a combination of a warning line system and guardrail system, warning line system and safety net system, warning line system and personal fall arrest system, or warning line system and safety monitoring system. On roofs 50 feet (15.24 meters) or less in width, the use of a safety monitoring system without a warning line system is permitted.
Steep Roofs Each employee on a steep roof with unprotected sides and edges 6 feet (1.8 meters) or more above lower levels shall be protected by guardrail systems with toeboards, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems.
Wall Openings Each employee working on, at, above, or near wall openings (including those with chutes attached) where the outside bottom edge of the wall opening is 6 feet (1.8 meters) or more above lower levels and the inside bottom edge of the wall opening is less than 39 inches (1.0 meter) above the walking/working surface must be protected from falling by the use of a guardrail system, a safety net system, or a personal fall arrest system.
They just redid the tar roof on an old ex-Post Office building across the highway from us. Putting up the railings and taking them down added a day and a half to a half day job.
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Never say never, but it's not being enforced (residential) in TX or OK right now. As far as commercial, if you have the edge of the roof barricaded with flagging of some type, all is well.
Here in Florida they have hired 20 extra inspectors out of Tampa for enforcement. (And I know they are checking jobs) I heard of a Ga. contractor working here getting a $155,000 fine, $14,000 of it for not wearing safety glasses!
One of the big problems right now is doing repairs on existing, or pressure cleaning. In order to install the anchor point, you have to dismantle a section of an otherwise functioning roof. A shingle roof that is 1/2 way through it's life cycle is nearly impossible to seperate in order to install the anchor. On many of the older tile roofs, the tile used is now dis-continued, and if you have to break them for the anchor point, there's a good chance you can no longer find them. The simple point anchor requires 5- 3 1/2" X 3/8" lag bolts into a truss, with 4 more bolts in the plywood. The tripod necessary for tile roofs (because of the height of the stacked tile and retractable lines) requires 23 bolts!
I go on alot of calls where people already cannot afford to replace their worn-out roofs, and expect some kind of miracle. This is just what we need in a shit economy.
So a roof that costs 10k 6 months ago now costs 13k?
I swear, I am really starting to believe they are trying to crush the small business man.
A friend of mind in town was killed while driving a forklift at his business.. OSHA came in and fined the wife..So sad
I'll never forget it that day. I was convinced the dude was going to be on the ground by the end of the day but he never fell.
It's $150 per employee for the course, and it takes all day so add a couple hundred + in pay for each guy that takes it, and add a hundred or so more for lost production on the day he takes it...
The good part is that it thins the field as far as eligibility of bidders, so I get a good percentage of what I bid.
Why a painter needs to know how to shore-up a trench is beyond me, though.
I'm supposed to deal with guard rails on my scaffolding on my tall ceilings , but screw that! You can't skim around guard rails.....the damn things are in my way!
Post a reply to: Anyone here dealing with OSHA fall protection?