Determining the causes and risks of falls

• Photo courtesy of The Garland Co. Inc., Cleveland.

Roofing professionals know their trade can be dangerous. And in an industry where the risk of falling is prevalent, most contractors are committed to educating their crews about safe work practices.

However, despite their training, many workers still choose not to comply with safety rules.

Because of concerns about injuries and deaths caused by falls in the roofing industry, NRCA and the National Safety Council (NSC) are embarking on a landmark pilot study that will reveal the specific reasons for such accidents. The study will begin in spring 2003 and last one year. The joint project, "A Longitudinal Study for Identifying Risk Factors Associated with Falls from Roofs—A Pilot Study," is being funded by NRCA with the hope that a larger study will be funded by a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) grant at a later date.

Study information

The study will attempt to identify the potential risk factors or combinations of risk factors and their effects on the probability and severity of falls. NSC researchers will evaluate current and proposed fall-prevention methods, training programs, personal protective equipment, design specifications, and regulatory standards and guidelines.

An advisory committee will review the study's plans and develop survey questions. The committee will include representatives from NRCA membership and staff; NSC Construction Division staff; the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers; Chicago-based CNA Insurance Cos.' loss-control staff; and building code administrators.

The study will begin with a telephone survey of 300 NRCA-contractor members who are insured by CNA Insurance. Contractors will be asked to confidentially participate in the survey, which will be conducted by NSC researchers. The survey will gather data about fatal and nonfatal injuries resulting from falls.

To encourage the 300 contractors who will be interviewed and other contractors to submit data from fall incidents, a combination of ads and notices in NRCA and other publications, newsletters, personal letters and postcards will be used. There also will be a telephone number for study participants to call to report accident cases. Additionally, CNA Insurance will report cases of interest where falls are involved to NSC as soon as it receives them.

Fall facts

NRCA's decision to conduct the study is supported by staggering statistics. According to recent NSC research, the occupational injury death rate in the construction industry consistently ranks the third highest among all major industries in the United States with the rates ranging from 13.3 deaths to 14.4 deaths per 100,000 workers since 1992. Among all risk exposures, falls to lower levels were the most significant cause of fatalities in the construction industry accounting for 372 (nearly 32 percent) of the 1,171 fatal injuries in 1998. Within this category of exposures, 123 accidents (33 percent) were categorized as falls from roofs, including falls through existing roof openings, roof surfaces and skylights or from roof edges.

Photo courtesy of The Garland Co. Inc., Cleveland.

Roofing workers from NRCA member Cobra Roofing Services Inc., Spokane, Wash., wore proper fall protection when working on the Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho, Moscow.

The statistics suggest workers may view safety differently than their supervisors. What effects do behaviors, personal views and workplace cultures have on workers' attitudes toward safety? Are some workers wary of following safety precautions for fear of being branded as weak or afraid of risks by co-workers?

Through the survey, clearer facts about accidents will emerge. If the study establishes a strong connection between attitudes toward safety and practicing safe work habits, future initiatives, such as a study funded by a NIOSH grant, will need to do more than emphasize an increase in safety knowledge. More effective preventative measures, such as new approaches to training, may be needed to change roofing workers' attitudes and behaviors. However, this is a pilot study; a larger study—perhaps surveying roofing workers—may be conducted at a later date and answer more questions about why falls occur.

Government agencies

Research not only will be important to show a connection between workers' attitudes and falls but to help the roofing industry garner fair standards and educate government agencies.

In July 1999, when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requested public comments about three fall-protection systems—slide guards, warning-line systems and fall-restraint systems—in its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), NRCA and its contractor members responded with vigor. But research similar to the pilot study could have helped the roofing industry's efforts to effectively respond to issues raised by OSHA.

For example, one key issue in the July 1999 ANPRM was OSHA's intention to rescind slide-guard and safety-monitor options as they related to residential (steep-slope) roofing work unless acceptable evidence proving their importance was submitted. Essentially, OSHA suggested it would reinstate the requirement for nearly universal use of conventional fall-protection systems for residential roofing projects. OSHA considers the use of safety monitors to be the least effective means of fall protection, but roofing contractors believe monitors are an effective method for preventing falls on residential roofs with slopes of 4-in-12 (18 degrees) or less. Much information was required to support the continuing use of safety monitors and slide guards.

Another area of concern for OSHA was establishing the criteria that should be used for fall-restraint systems. A fall-arrest system stops a worker from falling more than 6 feet (2 m), and a fall-restraint system prevents a worker from reaching a fall hazard, such as a roof's edge. In the July 1999 ANPRM, OSHA requested comments about whether it should adopt separate requirements in Subpart 1926.502, Fall Protection System Criteria and Practices, for fall-restraint systems.

According to OSHA, the components of a fall-restraint system don't need to be as strong as components of a fall-arrest system. A fall-restraint system's components only need to be strong enough to stop an employee from reaching a roof's edge.

OSHA wanted to know the maximum loads a fall-restraint system was expected to support if a worker stepped past a roof edge, as well as what the strength requirements should be for a system's anchors and other components. Should the requirements for a fall-restraint system's snap hooks and other connecting hardware be the same as those for a fall-arrest system's? Could fall-restraint system components become confused with fall-arrest system components?

The study will generate clearer information about why falls occur and what type, if any, fall-protection systems were used, as well as reveal other trends that may develop but currently aren't known.

Being prepared

According to its most recent regulatory agenda, OSHA will revisit its 1994 Subpart M Fall Protection Standard with an expected Notice of Pending Rulemaking (NPRM) this month. Based on recent conversations between NRCA and OSHA, it appears OSHA will not publish an NPRM this month. However, OSHA has not confirmed or denied this assumption.

Whether or not the NRCA/NSC pilot study is completed by the time OSHA issues its NPRM, the research will enable the roofing industry to better identify important behaviors and attitudes in the industry that could help prevent injuries and save lives, as well as support claims made by the government.

The NRCA/NSC study illustrates NRCA and the roofing industry continue to be proactive in their efforts to learn more about the risk factors that result in falls and improve the industry's safety record. Armed with more accurate information, roofing contractors can prevent falls and the bureaucratic problems associated with them.

NRCA will issue updates when information about the study or OSHA's NPRM are available. For additional information, contact Tom Shanahan, NRCA's associate executive director of risk management and education, at (847) 299-9070, Ext. 238, or tshanahan@nrca.net.

Peter Greenbaum is NRCA's manager of education programs.