Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to determine jobs/tasks associated with current injury, illness, and fatality trends in the roofing industry; and (2) to identify current safety practices associated with the prevention of these illnesses, injuries, and fatalities. In order to achieve the project objectives, a survey was designed and sent to Michigan roofing contractors. To design an adequate survey, the research team first collected background information using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics online database, published research, and contractor interviews. Of the 48 roofing companies asked to participate, 24 completed the survey. The survey results indicated that hand and finger injuries due to cutting operations and back injuries due to the manual handling of heavy and bulky materials to be the most frequent roofing contracting task/injury combination. Falls from elevations as well as on the same level typically occurred when carrying heavy and bulky materials such as bundles of shingles on slippery and inclined walking/working surfaces. These findings from this study may assist safety professionals in the construction industry in making effective changes for improving safety and productivity.
Fredericks et al. (Mon,) studied this question.