Flashings

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Commit to safety

Workers should know safety procedures are instituted to protect them, not frustrate them. Use the following tips to help your employees make a genuine commitment to safety:

• Make safety an ongoing process. Emphasizing safety only when an inspection is scheduled allows workers to treat safety as a one-time bid for compliance. Workers need to know safety is a continuous responsibility.
• Involve employees in safety decisions. Help workers view safety procedures more positively by asking for their input about how to incorporate safety procedures into their work routines.
• Explain to workers why new rules are being implemented and how the rules will affect their daily routines. Don't just dictate rules and expect employees to follow them.
• Don't treat accidents as isolated incidents. If an accident occurs, encourage employees to identify system failures rather than blame individuals and use the opportunity to create better systems in the future.

Roofing study ranks manufacturers

Westlake Village, Calif.-based J.D. Power and Associates' and New York-based McGraw-Hill Construction's 2007 Syndicated Commercial Roofing Systems Study^SM has been released.

The study focuses on contractor evaluations and roofing materials manufacturer ratings. Overall satisfaction is based on performance in seven categories: sales, marketing and support; warranty and repair service; product ratings; credit/billing process; placing orders; delivery; and price.

The 2007 Syndicated Commercial Roofing Systems Study is based on 491 evaluations gathered during April and May from subcontractors who ordered and purchased roofing materials during the previous 12 months.

Carlisle SynTec Inc., Carlisle, Pa., was ranked highest followed closely by Indianapolis-based Firestone Building Products Co. Carlisle SynTec received a rating of 838 out of 850, and Firestone Building Products received a rating of 811. The industry average was 803.

Tecta America names Mark Gaulin chief operating officer

Skokie, Ill.-based Tecta America Corp. has named Mark Gaulin chief operating officer. Gaulin is NRCA's immediate past president and one of Tecta America's founders.

Gaulin is president of Magco Inc., Jessup, Md., a Tecta America company, where he is responsible for leading the company's green roof movement and managing the company's performance and field operations.

"Mark has led the growth and reputation that Magco Inc. is known for in the roofing industry," says Mark Santacrose, president and chief executive officer of Tecta America. "He is a leader in the Tecta America family, and we are pleased and excited that Mark will be taking on this new role within Tecta America."

Reduce turnover

A recent report by Staffing.org states turnover can cost your company up to 200 percent of a departing employee's salary. To boost employee retention and avoid this financial burden, remember these tips:

• Focus on career development by helping employees identify and bridge knowledge or skill gaps.
• Offer ongoing training to help employees meet career goals and improve your organization's services.
• Encourage employees to make contacts with employees from departments other than their own. Meeting co-workers from other areas of a business can help employees understand the business's overall opportunities and risks.
• Offer access to management. This gives employees the opportunity to learn ­from senior leaders and allows management to recognize employees' leadership abilities.
• Encourage open communication. Schedule regular informal meetings with employees, and encourage them to come to you with concerns.

Details

Christian Madsen
Vice president of Madsen Roof Co. Inc., Sacramento, Calif.

What is the most unusual roofing project you've performed?
Work on a rare feline house at a zoo. During the job, the lions kept jumping up at the skylights trying to make a meal of the crew.

Why did you become a roofing contractor?
My father has been in the roofing industry since he was 19, and I have always enjoyed working with my hands. Besides, once roofing is in your blood, there is no escape.

What was your favorite roofing experience?
Helping my father and his friend, Jack White, secretary/treasurer of State Roofing Systems, San Leandro, Calif., install a composition shingle roof when I was about 7.

What are your favorite items on your desk?
Photos from different vacations I have taken.

What are your best and worst habits?
My best habits are I have a strong work ethic and pay attention to detail. My worst habit is avoiding unpleasant tasks.

What do you consider your most rewarding experience?
Saving my friend from drowning in a fast-moving river. He had gotten stuck in an underwater tunnel, and when he did not surface, I was able to swim toward him and free him.

What was your first job?
Loading and unloading trucks during weekends when I was 13. The pay was great, and I drove the vehicles when nobody was around.

What do you consider a waste of time?
Meetings that last too long because they don't stay on point.

If you could invite any three people to dinner (dead or alive), whom would you invite and why?
My grandfather and grandmother because they had such an influence on my life when I was growing up and Benjamin Franklin because he was the first real American businessman.

What are your favorite vacations?
A tropical beach in summer and skiing in winter.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who waste my time.

What is your favorite stress reliever?
Backpacking or riding my Harley-Davidson.®

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
Meeting deadlines.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I am on the Roofing Contractors Association of California's board of directors and a member of Western States Roofing Contractors Association and NRCA.

People would be surprised to know …
I've been working in the roofing industry since I was 13.

BASF prices increase

BASF Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has raised its prices for Calsan® calcium stearate products used in construction by 5 cents per wet pound. The price increase took effect July 15 in Canada and the U.S.

BASF cites high costs of raw materials, energy and transportation as reasons for the price increase.

Rohm and Haas raises prices

Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas Co. has raised its prices in North America for acrylic and styrene-acrylic emulsions, solution and solid-grade acrylic resins, vinyl-acetate-based emulsions and additives by 4 cents per wet pound. The price increase took effect July 1.

Rohm and Haas cites high costs of freight, raw materials and energy as reasons for the price increase.

Review commission invalidates OSHA policy

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has reversed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) long-standing Multi-Employer Citation Policy, which held general contractors responsible for failing to ensure subcontractors at their work sites comply with OSHA standards.

The decision to reverse the policy was reached April 27 and based on Secretary of Labor v. Summit Contractors Inc., OSHRC Docket No. 03-1622. After reviewing the case, OSHRC decided OSHA standard 29 CFR §1910.12(a) precludes OSHA's ability to hold responsible a "controlling employer" for failing to ensure other employers at a work site follow OSHA regulations.

Section 1920.12(a) states, "Each employer shall protect the employment and places of employment of each of his employees engaged in construction work." OSHRC ruled the phrase "his employees" means employers only are responsible for the safety and health of their own employees.

This decision only applies to construction work and does not affect OSHA's ability to issue citations under its Multi-Employer Citation Policy when workers are not engaged in construction work.