Short Duration Crews’ Safety Program
Short duration crews are usually of two to three employees that are tasked with completing
service/repair type work, roof repairs or punch list items. However, short duration planning
extends to and includes: emergency work, leak investigations & repairs, disaster roof blow off
replacement, snow removal, out of town work, sheet metal crews and work around skylights.
The purpose of this program is to develop the framework for safe work practices for short
duration crews based upon six key elements; communication, access, roof inspections, loading
the roof, fall protection and material inventory. Practical solutions for the issues short duration
crews encounter shall be provided.
The SD Crew Safety Program will take effect on July 1, 2015; current members will have until
October 1, 2015 to develop their own internal policy, which must contain the six key elements.
Training for all employees pertaining to the SD Crew Safety Program must be completed by
January 1, 2016. New members shall be allotted 120 days to develop their policy and 180 days
to train their workforce on it. However; members are permitted to utilize this program in its
entirety or can modify it to fit their companies’ specific operations. Modifications to this
program can only be made if the procedures are more stringent than what has been laid out.
The following elements are required to be contained within any Short Duration Crew Safety
Program which is adopted, modified or designed.
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Communication
Access
Roof Inspections
Loading the Roof
Fall Protection
Material Inventory
Communication:
As many of the projects short duration crews work on have not been inspected prior to their
arrival, the employees are often faced with hazardous situations which they need to be fully
prepared to handle. By obtaining as much information from the prospective client prior to
sending a crew out to a jobsite we can minimize the possibilities of the crew arriving onsite
without the proper equipment of tools to complete the work.
An intake sheet has been created which allows the office personnel to document as much
information as possible pertaining to the safety hazards which may be present onsite while
taking the leak/repair call.
Access:
(Insert company Name) employees must be trained on the acceptable means of access and the
requirements pertaining to safely working with them. The following means of access should be
trained on, but is not limited to; extension ladders, fixed ladders, roof hatches and scaffolding
stair towers. Employees shall be trained on the requirements within the RCCS Every Step Count
Ladders Program as well to ensure extension ladders are properly selected, inspected, erected
and secured if used onsite.
Roof Inspections:
(Insert company Name) employees shall be trained on the purpose, restrictions and limitations
pertaining to the utilization of the inspectors’ exemption while performing pre and post
inspections of a roofing system.
The purpose of the inspectors’ exemption is to allow employees to evaluate/locate the location
of the problem/work that needs to be performed, asses what safety equipment or controls are
required or to evaluate completed work.
The restrictions and limitations of the inspectors’ exemption are as follows:
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It can only be utilized for the pre-inspection (searching for the leak) and postinspection, once all work has been completed and all materials and tools have been
removed from the roof.
If any tools or materials have been loaded or stocked on the roof, the use of the
inspectors’ exemption is NOT sufficient.
During the pre-inspection and post-inspection the use of hand tools such as a shovel
to displace ballast would nullify the inspectors’ exemption. The use of hand or
power tools is not allowed while using the inspectors’ exemption.
Loading the Roof:
(Insert company Name) employees shall be trained on the acceptable means for transporting
their tools and necessary materials to the roof. It shall be noted that the use of some of these
methods requires additional training, such as, the use of a rough terrain lift truck would require
operator training or if a crane is to be used employees may be required to be rigger and/or
signal person trained. Employees shall be trained on the safety requirements for the utilization
of the following means of transporting their tools and materials to the roof, but is not limited
to:
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Backpacks
Laddervators
Hoisting by Rope or Rope and Wheel
Rough Terrain Lift Trucks (additional training may be required)
Cranes (additional training may be required)
Fall Protection:
With falls being the leading cause of death in the construction industry and roofers accounting
for over 70 percent of them, it is crucial a sufficient amount of time is spent educating our
employees not only on when fall protection is required and what types of systems are available,
but more importantly how to properly install, erect and wear the equipment.
Short duration crews shall be trained on the acceptable means of fall protection which they
shall be permitted to utilize in the field along with the limitations of these systems, they are as
follows.
(Insert company Name) employees performing short duration work shall be protected against
all fall hazards one of two ways, either by completely enclosing their work area with warning
lines or by installing and using a personal fall arrest system (PFAS). Employees who utilize a
PFAS shall erect it in such a manner as to remain tied off in a fall restraint capacity unless it is
infeasible to complete the work at hand while tied off in such a manner.
Warning Lines:
(Insert company Name) employees shall be trained on the following requirements pertaining to
the use of a warning line system:
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Distance warning lines MUST be erected from the roof edge (6/10 feet) or from an
open hole or skylight (15 feet).
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Height off from the roof surface (34”-39”).
Warning line requirements (500lbs tensile strength) and stanchion requirements
(16lbs tipping force).
The warning lines MUST completely enclose the work area and employees MUST
remain inside of the warning lines while performing all work operations.
Personal Fall Arrest System (PFAS):
(Insert company Name) employees shall be trained on the following requirements pertaining to
the use of a PFAS.
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How to properly inspect all components of the PFAS equipment which they will be
provided with.
How to properly don a full body harness, connect a lanyard and install their anchor
point. Training on the anchor point shall include, but is not limited to;
o
o
o
Acceptable substrates to fasten to
Required fasteners for the allowable substrates
Fastening patterns for each allowable substrate
(These requirements are provided by the manufacturer in the equipment’s user manual)
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How to perform fall distance calculations and assess for swing hazards.
The difference between Fall Arrest vs. Fall Restraint.
If a suitable means of fall protection is in place such as a permanent perimeter guardrail system
it may be utilized as the means of fall protection so long as a competent person has inspected it
and deemed it meets the requirements for use as a fall protection system. Parapet walls are
also viewed as sufficient fall protection as long as they are at least 39 inches in height off from
the walking/working surface of the roof.
It shall be noted in the event the work that is to be completed is 50 feet or further from any fall
hazard; roof edge, open hole or skylight, then the use of fall protection is not required as the
employees are not exposed to an imminent danger fall hazard.
Material Inventory:
As short duration crews often visit multiple projects in a day and are usually the first person to
visit the site, they at times may not know every safety hazards which they will be presented
with. While the purpose of the intake sheet, which is attached as appendix A, is to obtain as
much information as possible pertaining to the parameters of the job, frequently our
employees discover an unexpected hazard once they arrive onsite.
For this reason, it is highly recommended your short duration crews carry a wide variety of
safety equipment with them at all times in order to be able to adequately protect them against
any hazard which they may encounter in the field. The equipment which they should have
stocked on their work vehicle is as follows, but is not limited to:
- Extra PPE (safety glasses, hard hat, gloves, ear protection, safety vest).
- Full PFAS for each employee (at minimum full body harness, shock absorbing lanyard
and an anchor point).
- Retractable lanyard (preferably for each employee).
- Fire Extinguisher
- First Aid Kit
- Portable GFCI
- Wide variety of sizes of extension ladders
- Minimum four (4) warning line stanchions & 200 feet of warning line.
- Backpack for transporting materials and tools to the roof.
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS)