Safe Solutions

A roofing worker falls from a roof and suffers multiple fractures, resulting in nearly a half-million dollar loss, and now is a paraplegic. A 26-year-old roofing worker falls 40 feet through a school roof, resulting in almost a $1 million loss, and now is a quadriplegic. Both workers had been on the job less than two weeks.

A major insurance company's study indicates 42 percent of new employees in the construction industry suffer injuries within 90 days of their start dates. This underscores the fact that all roofing contractors should have a safety orientation program for new employees.

Training

Data from the latest study of employee satisfaction in the roofing industry performed by The Gallup Organization, Princeton, N.J., and funded by The Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress indicate only about 20 percent of roofing workers receive any training before starting their first roofing jobs.

Training often is low on a roofing contractor's priority list, particularly when business is booming. The problem always has been the trade-off of time spent training a newly hired worker in a classroom versus putting him on the roof to produce. The study shows 60 percent of employees withhold training from new workers, presumably because so many leave the roofing industry during the first few weeks on the job. As it becomes more difficult to attract, hire and retain employees, it becomes more crucial for safety training for new and existing employees to become a top priority.

Programs

Training has the potential to improve employee performance, which, in turn, will lead to greater customer satisfaction, increased quality, lower insurance costs and improved job safety. A roofing contractor with an effective training program can attract and recruit inexperienced new employees and convert them into productive roofing workers. A program should establish responsibilities for each management level and include classroom and on-the-job training with special emphasis on monitoring new employees during their first 180 days.

The Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress also published a best-practices study of roofing contractors' efforts to successfully recruit, train and retain workers. The study shows upper management should be involved in new employee training to show commitment to safety at all levels. Many companies assign a seasoned employee—typically, a foreman—to mentor a new field employee to ensure there is one person responsible for the new employee's development. A foreman should have full authority to require all workers on the job site to comply with established work rules and safety procedures.

Another approach is to assign a new employee to work with a service technician for several months to expose the new employee to a variety of roof system installations.

Some examples of successful new-employee training programs currently being employed are:

• Supervisors hold a mandatory orientation for all new employees that lasts four hours to six hours and is divided into units. This program addresses company history, philosophy and job safety.
• A corporate safety officer provides a minimum two-hour orientation before a new employee is allowed on a roof. Regular and follow-up safety classes are provided after one month, six months and a year of employment. The company annually reserves a full day for safety training for all field personnel and also conducts weekly toolbox talks.
• New field employees are assigned to work with experienced employees for two weeks. Then, new employees participate in a comprehensive, two-day orientation during which they meet everyone from the chief executive officer to the mailroom clerk.

Regardless of the method used to train employees, training should be documented and include the worker's name and signature, date attended, topic and name of the person who conducted the training. Without proper documentation, it becomes difficult and sometimes impossible to prove training was provided.

Dedication

Although many roofing contractors are hesitant to put a lot of time, effort and money into training new employees, they should find dedicating more resources to this area can lower turnover rates, improve morale and productivity, and help reduce accidents. New employee training should be an integral component of every roofing contractor's safety program.

Leslie Kazmierowski, CPCU, is NRCA's insurance programs manager.