Safe Solutions

For Merit Roofing, spring was busy. Jerry, Merit Roofing's owner, was pleased he had enough work to rotate his crews between day and night shifts. But he realized his company's increasing success would require him to hire more workers.

As a result, Jerry hired more roofing workers who spoke Spanish as a first language. Eventually, each roofing crew included several workers who barely could speak or understand English. When possible, a foreman would include a Spanish-speaking worker on each crew who could understand English well enough to interpret instructions.

One afternoon, before a night roofing job, Mike, a Merit Roofing foreman, met with his crew in the company's yard to talk about potential safety hazards. Because several crew members spoke Spanish as a first language, one worker interpreted Mike's instructions.

Mike explained the risk of falling off a roof and tripping over obstacles increases because of decreased visibility at night. Mike also said adequate lighting for roof access areas, paths of travel, and around a kettle or tanker is critical and should be set up during daylight hours.

Mike explained fall protection during night jobs must comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. He told his workers to transport materials to a roof using cranes, conveyors and hoists during daylight hours if possible. If done at night, adequate lighting must be provided to allow equipment operators and ground personnel to see hand signals. He asked his workers to use walkie-talkies at night if necessary.

When the crew members assembled at the job site, Mike showed them the emergency evacuation route off the roof. With Mike's supervision, the workers tested and set up the work lights and marked trip hazards, such as elevation changes, vents and pipes, with fluorescent spray paint. Mike then emphasized the importance of never wandering into dark areas.

"Always keep a flashlight handy, too," Mike cautioned. "A power failure could cause the lights to go out."

A young worker, Manuel, was new to the roofing trade and recently had moved to the United States. He was self-conscious about his poor English skills and hesitant to ask questions. Manuel thought if he observed other workers and worked hard, he would get his work done. When the interpreter asked whether everyone understood Mike's instructions, Manuel nodded with the rest, not wanting to stand out.

The crew went to work. After several hours, workers took a break to eat. They walked along a path of travel illuminated by work lights to a parking area below. As they ate, someone mentioned Manuel was not among them.

Concerned, Mike led several workers to the roof to find Manuel. Using flashlights, they carefully moved across unlit roof areas and found Manuel lying unconscious on the roof deck. Manuel's breathing was shallow, and there was a bloody patch on his forehead.

Mike called 911. An ambulance soon arrived at the job site, and the medical team was led to the roof.

At the hospital, a doctor examined Manuel and found he had a concussion and needed stitches. An interpreter told Manuel he would have to stay in the hospital overnight.

The next day, Jerry, Mike and some co-workers visited Manuel. As one worker interpreted, they discovered Manuel hadn't understood the instructions about having a flashlight and not wandering into unlit roof areas. Manuel said he had gone to find tools and took a shortcut across an unlit area. But he failed to see a vent pipe, tripped over it and hit his head on the roof deck.

Jerry, who always tried to make sure crews complied with OSHA regulations, was relieved Manuel's injury was not severe. But Jerry was disturbed because a simple misunderstanding had resulted in injury. He assumed he had solved any language problems by having at least one worker who spoke some English and Spanish work on each crew.

A few days later, Jerry held a meeting for all Merit Roofing workers and outlined a new safety program that would focus not only on compliance with safety regulations but also the clear communication of potential hazards, especially when training workers who have difficulty understanding English.

Jerry invested in training videotapes, workbooks and toolbox talks designed for Spanish-speaking workers. He also sought bilingual workers who fluently spoke English and Spanish. As an incentive, bilingual workers would be paid more for their interpreting duties. In addition, each safety workshop would include a quiz for Spanish-speaking workers to ensure they understood a job's risks.

Jerry was determined that every Merit Roofing job would be safe—day or night—and safety never again would be misinterpreted.

Peter Greenbaum is NRCA's manager of education programs.