Rooftop Anchor Blog http://rooftopanchor.com/blog Fall arrest and fall protection systems for your rooftop. Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:55:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 Accidents Do Happen… http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=30 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=30#comments Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:51:14 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=30 But can they be prevented

?

Here is another article that might be worth reading.

OSHA cited Misdea Enterprises LLC, a Weymouth, Massachusetts, masonry contractor, for alleged willful and serious viol ations of safety standards after an employee fell 30 feet while climbing a sc

affold

at a jobsite located on Summit Street in Brookline, Massachusetts.

The company faces a total of $61,600 in proposed f

ines.

OSHA’s inspection found that the scaffold lacked a ladder or other safe means of accessing its upper levels and the workers were not supplied with fall protection while working on the scaffold.

Employers must provide f all protection for e

ach employee on

a scaffold more than 10 feet above a lower level.

These conditions resulted in OSHA issuing two willful citations with $56,000 in proposed fines against the masonry company.

“Falls are the leading cause of death in construction work, and employers must take all required steps to prevent and minimize this potentially deadly hazard,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts.

“Safe working conditions must not and can never be a matter of luck.”

In addition, OSHA determined that the scaffold was not fully planked, which created an additional fall hazard. Furthermore, the agency found that workers were threatened by electrocution, since the scaffold was located less than 18 inches from uninsulated and energized power lines.

These conditions resulted in two serious citations with $5,600 in fines.

Information on construction fall protection and scaffolding hazards and safeguards is available online.

Article was retrieved from http://www.ercweb.com/resources/viewtip.aspx?id=7584.

]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=30 0 In the News http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=26 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=26#comments Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:35:37 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=26 I recently received an email with a news article about a man falling off a roof while he was working. Unfortunately, this article continues to prove that building owners do not see how imperative it is to have the right safety equipment on the roof until a rooftop worker actually has an accident.

Call today ff you would like to learn more about what fall protection and fall arrest systems are available for your building.

I have copied the full article for you below.

-Heidi Killpack, Rooftop Anchor, Inc.

September 9, 2010

Man critical after falling 20 feet from roof

By Neale Gulley The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Thu Sep 09, 2010, 10:07 PM EDT

A 21-year-old employee at a City of Tonawanda business sustained critical injuries Thursday afternoon w hen

he plunged some 20 feet from a rooftop onto a concrete pad below.

The Grand Island man, whose name has not been released, was apparently working on the roof at Great Lakes Metal Treating Inc., at 300 East Niagara St. around 2:30 p.m. when he fell through what appeared to be a ventilation opening or skylight on the roof of the building.

City of Tonawanda Fire Chief Charles Stuart said the man was listed in critical condition at ECMC about an hour later.

The news could not obtain an update on his condition later in the evening.

“We had an employee who was doing some work on the roof and apparently fell through a skylight,” Stuart said. “I would say it was a 20 or 25-foot fall.”

City of Tonawanda Police said the accident is under investigation as an industrial accident.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials were notified of the fall, as is department policy in any such investigation.

“He was carrying some kind of blower-type fan — something large,” Police Lt. Fred Foels said was his preliminary understanding of what happened. “He either tripped or walked on the skylight and crashed through.”

Stuart said responders were dispatched to a call that the man was conscious and breathing, bleeding from the head.

Stuart said he was unconscious when crews arrived and the man

was rushed to ECMC via Twin City Ambulance.

“It was a trauma call,” he said. “We make sure they have an airway and they’ re not bleeding to death and then we get them to the hospital as soon as possible.

They reported him as conscious but for all intents and purposes he was unconscious.”

Several employees stood by the scene, just in side a large bay door along the

side of the business. Inside medical supplies were visible surrounding the obvious place where the man landed, below a large steel I-beam in turn directly

below the opening to the roof.

Two men ascended a lift to the top of the building and could be seen surveying the rooftop in the aftermath.

A police photographer took pictures.

Employees gathered around the scene Thursday afternoon respectfully declined to comment publicly on the incident.

Police s ay they pl

an to issue a public statement today.

http://tonawanda-news.com/local/x1953198783/Man-critical-after-falling-20-feet-from-roof

]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=26 0 Our Business is Your Rooftop Safety http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=22 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=22#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:13:27 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=22 MagFullPageRA

]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=22 0 Brent LaPorte Joins the Rooftop Anchor Team http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=19 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=19#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:27:47 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=19 We are excited to announce our new National Sales Manager, Brent LaPorte. Brent comes to Rooftop Anchor with 21 years of experience working in the fall protection industry.  He has gained a vast amount of knowledge about the product and the industry while he worked with Pro-Bel Enterprises.

He initially started in their inspections department and helped them open their first remote office in Ottawa, Ontario, and eventually was their regional sales manager in the southeast region of the US (Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas).  
 
“I am  thrilled to announce Brent as the newest addition to the Rooftop Anchor team.

 I have personally known Brent for nearly ten years and during that period considered him a dear friend and worthy competitor.

 He was the first and only person on our radar when we determined the need to bring aboard an experienced individual to oversee our national sales operation.

 He is a very talented individual with a great wealth of knowledge and experience.

 I also respect him tremendously for his integrity, ethics and strength of character.

 I can’t wait for our fine network of reps to meet him and in turn to have Brent meet our reps,” states Kynan Wynne.


  
“Brent is a key piece of the management puzzle we are putting together.

In order to sustain and grow this business, he will play an integral part in our strategic growth plan as well as give us the experience we so desperately need.  I can’t wait to get to know him and his wife better and bring them into our big Rooftop Anchor family.  Brent has made a major financial and personal change to come on board with us, all of which I am very grateful for.  I have been very impressed with his integrity and energy through the hiring process.  I look forward to working together,” states Nate Sargent.


 
Brent and his wife, Suzane, live in Ontario Canada, which is where he will continue to work.

They have two children, Angele (13-year old daughter) and Eric (10-year old son). Brent loves to play hockey, coach Lacrosse, and he enjoys camping with his family.

He will soon be releasing his first novel, Hope Burned,  in October 2010.

“I am extremely excited about joining the Rooftop Anchor Team and look forward to growing the business together one building at a time,” states Brent.

]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=19 0 Don’t Let this Happen to You http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=15 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=15#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 20:17:44 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=15 I found this article today while going through my construction emails.

It caught my eye immediately.

Plenty of owners and managers today do not take seriously the responsibility that they hold.

Check today to make sure you have the right fall safety equipment and procedures on your building.

 

Roofing company owner, foreman charged with manslaughter in death of worker who fell

Bay City News

Posted: 04/27/2010 07:31:35 AM PDT
Updated: 04/27/2010 09:57:42 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO — The owner and foreman of a ro

ofing company have been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2008 death of an employee who fell off the roof of an apartment building in San Francisco, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris announced Monday.

Sam Hyung Goo Shim, owner of California C&R Inc., was indicted on April 13 by a criminal grand jury

on charges of felony involuntary manslaughter and felony violation of the labor code in connection with the death of Antonio Martinez.

Jwa Young Kim, the foreman who was at the work site at the time of Martinez’s death, was also indicted on the same charges.

Martinez had been working as a roofer on a four-story apartment building when he fell 38 feet to the sidewalk below.

He was not wearing a harness when he fell and there was allegedly no supervision of his work along the edge of the roof, according to Harris’ office.

The grand jury also returned indictments against Shim and his company for multiple counts of workers compensation fraud for allegedly failing to report Martinez’s wages in payroll filings submitted to the state Compensation Insurance Fund and the Employment Development Department, according to Harris’ office.

Shim and Kim were arraigned on April 22 in San Francisco Superior Court and entered not guilty pleas.

They returned to court Monday for a hearing on reducing their bail, which was set at $300,000, but the judge denied their requests, according to Harris’ office.

They are scheduled to return

to court on May 10.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_14967386?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1

]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=15 0 Construct Canada http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=10 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=10#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:00:36 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=10 Construct-Canada Visit us today at the Constuct Canada Show in booth #1200. ]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=10 0 Welcome to Rooftop Anchor’s Blog http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=8 http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=8#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:53:15 +0000 admin http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?p=8 Welcome to the Rooftop Anchor, Inc.

blog! We hope that through this blog we can provide education and information on the correct and safe use of fall protection and fall arrest equipment.

We wish for building owners, architects, contractors, etc.

to know of the safety standard requirements and its importance

to you, your employees, and

your building.

It is possible that without this information you are at risk and will be held liable.

It has been seen in the news that there are dire consequences for you and your rooftop workers by failing to provide or use OSHA approved adequate fall arrest protection system on building rooftops.

In 2005 Unicco Service Company received national attention plus penalties and reprimands from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.


In a matter of two years, they had two fatal window cleaning accidents that resulted in the death of three window cleaners, plus an OSHA citation for $152,500. OSHA rules a willful violation as “one committed with intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the OSHA regulations.” In both accidents, window cleaners were improperly rigged and anchored.


(See link below for full article)

http://safety.blr.com/news.aspx?id=100325

This unfortunate situation can easily be avoided with the installation and proper use of a certified fall protection anchorage system.

However, the majority of over 4.6 million commercial buildings still have systems that fail to meet the standards and regulations set by OSHA and ANSI I-14.1.

If you do not already have an anchorage system that meets code, we can inspect your current anchorage system and/or supply you with a system that will meet or exceed OSHA requirements and protect your business and employees and mitigate potential liability.

]]> http://rooftopanchor.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=8 0