Safety Harnesses and Your Roofing Contractor

Why should your roofing contractor use a safety harness?

When a contractor is installing or repairing a roof on a home, it is important that they use the proper safety equipment to prevent injury. The contractor should be using this type of equipment at all times when they are on a roof in order to be in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is a government agency department that is affiliated with the Department of Labor in the US. They create and enforce rules and regulations to protect the safety and health of working conditions. They also require that workers are educated in OSHA laws and regulations to prevent accidents from occurring.

Safety harnesses are an important part of your roofing contractor’s responsibility.  OSHA’s law for safety harnesses and your roofing contractor states that all workers that are working six feet or more above the ground must wear a safety harness. The contractor should provide their employees with OSHA approved safety harnesses to prevent falls from the roof. Some of the safety equipment that are OSHA approved include full safety harnesses, lanyards, rope grabs and other fall protection equipment. The full body harness is used to protect a roofing specialist from falling off the roof and getting injured. This is in place to prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths that can occur when a person falls off a roof.

In the unfortunate event that an injury or death does occur, contractors should also provide workers’ compensation insurance. With the hazards that are common in this field, workers’ compensation insurance becomes a very fundamental and necessary provision given to the workers to ensure financial well being. While every measure that can be taken to create a safe work environment are in place, workers’ compensation sees to it that any unfortunate occurrences are also covered.

It is of the highest priority of reputable contractors to ensure the safety of their workers. As such, contractors not only provide workers’ compensation insurance and safety equipment, but also enroll themselves and their workers in safety classes. There the contractors and their employees are educated in the appropriate safety measures that will prevent falls and injuries from occurring while on the job. Workers must take a 30 hour class that helps them to understand the rules and regulations as well as how to properly use safety equipment. These courses cover safely setting up a roofing project, precautions to take while on a roofing job and what to do in case of a fall. These are all very important measures that OSHA has put in place in order to protect the worker.

It is important that homeowners be aware of these issues. Learning about what is necessary in terms of safety harnesses, insurance, classes and the roofing contractor is important. Keeping an eye out for this type of safety measures will be helpful to the workers and the homeowners. A homeowner should always ask the contractor safety questions during the consultation to make sure they follow the OSHA laws before they are hired.

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