Trust Roofing Co. had been in business for more than 20 years and provided quality service to many loyal customers. Jack, Trust Roofing's owner, was proud of his company's safety record and took care to ensure his employees worked safely by requiring them to participate in regular safety training sessions.
One crisp, clear fall day, a Trust Roofing crew was reroofing a small shopping complex. The building was three stories high, and the main access to the roof from inside the building was through a steel hatch that connected the roof to an attic space below. The crew had been given permission to use the access point.
The crew carefully erected a scaffold so workers could access the roof edge. Steve, Trust Roofing's superintendent, inspected the scaffold. The outside of the scaffold had a top rail and midrail and appeared safe. Additional fall protection included a warning-line system installed 6 feet from the roof edge and a safety monitor to watch workers who were working outside the warning line.
The crew spent the morning tearing off the existing roof membrane. At noon, the crew broke for lunch. One young worker, José, remained on the scaffold, inspecting the edge-metal detail. The scaffold platform was about 20 inches from the wall of the building, and José reached across the gap, bracing his hands against the side of the building.
Nearby on the roof, the crew was finishing lunch. Suddenly, they heard a scream. Steve hurried over to the scaffold and looked down. He saw that José was caught between the scaffold and the side of the building a few feet above the ground.
Steve and the crew hurried down the hatch and through the building. When they reached José, he was unconscious; they then checked to see whether he was breathing, which he was.
Steve immediately called 911 on his cell phone and requested emergency medical assistance. An ambulance quickly arrived at the job site, and the medical team took José to a nearby hospital.
Jack met Steve at the hospital, and they spoke to the doctor who had examined José. The doctor explained José had a concussion and some cuts and bruises. Although José was going to be fine, the doctor said José would have to stay at the hospital overnight.
Jack was concerned about the incident. He had not considered the possibility of caught-between hazards on job sites—workers on the scaffold had been protected from falling on the outside of the scaffold but there had been no protection on the inside.
Jack contacted a risk management consultant to learn more about caught-between hazards. After Jack told the consultant about José's accident, the consultant explained that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires a guardrail on the inside of a scaffold if it is more than 14 inches from a wall or workers must use personal fall-arrest equipment. The guardrail also must have a midrail installed between the top rail and platform surface.
Caught-between hazards are everywhere and can be difficult to recognize, the consultant said. Tasks most workers are required to do every day, such as storing materials, could be hazardous if, for example, materials fall on a worker's feet. Additionally, equipment that has moving parts, such as roof cutters, can trap feet, legs, hands and arms and cause serious injuries.
Even when workers are not on a roof, caught-between hazards can be encountered. The risk management consultant told Jack that when vehicles—such as the forklifts used in Trust Roofing's warehouse—are being operated, workers must follow proper safety precautions to avoid getting caught between a vehicle and a wall, other equipment or stacked material. And even outside a warehouse, when a tanker or other large vehicle is backing up, there always must be a clear line of sight between the driver and people nearby.
The next day, Jack contacted his roofing association and requested a caught-between hazards training program. The following week, he met with all Trust Roofing workers and guided them through the program, which included watching a DVD and participating in a quiz to test the workers' understanding of the various hazards. Jack was determined every Trust Roofing employee would be safe.
Peter Greenbaum is NRCA's director of education and training media.
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