FALL PROTECTION ANALYSIS FOR WORKERS ON RESIDENTIAL ROOFS

Safety during residential roof construction and repair activities is o f significant concern since many injuries occur, especially as a resul t of falls. The Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Hawaii Department of Labor commissioned a research project to investig ate this matter. This study involves an evaluation of existing regulat ions, construction practices, and alternate fall protection measures. It is found that the current state of compliance is poor; fall protect ion plans are not prepared as required, and positive safety measures s uch as guardrails and personal fall arrest systems are not used. The r easons for this are many, including the extreme competitiveness of the home building and roofing industries, unsafe worker behavior, design difficulties, conventional construction practices, and a lack of knowl edge. Fall protection regulations are misunderstood, and the fall prot ection plan is particularly prone to poor implementation. For fall pro tection systems to be implemented voluntarily, they must be feasible, simple, economical, protective, and flexible. Several systems were ana lyzed for their ability to meet these criteria. The most promising sys tems included prefabrication of the roof system and personal fall arre st systems use. This paper presents the findings of the study and reco mmendations for optimal enforcement with an aim at reducing fall injur ies.