Roof Work Toolbox Talk
Roofers fall off roofs in three places: the eave, an opening they forgot was there, and the way down. Every one of those is known about before the crew goes up.
Print this talk with the sign in lines on it
One page to read from, with space for the job, the date, who led it and twelve signatures. Print it, read it, get it signed, file it.
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The talk, read this out
Before anybody goes up, we are going to name the three edges on this roof, the anchor each of us is using, and where the skylights are. Five minutes now, so nobody guesses later.
A steep roof, anything steeper than four in twelve, means fall protection at six feet with no alternative. Guardrails, nets or personal fall arrest. On a residential reroof that is almost always a harness, a rope grab and an anchor screwed into the ridge framing.
Low slope roofs, four in twelve or flatter, give you more options: a guardrail system, a safety net, a fall arrest system, or in some cases a warning line and a safety monitor away from the edge. The warning line is a real system with real spacing rules, not a chalk line and good intentions.
The anchor goes into structure, not sheathing. Half inch plywood will not hold five thousand pounds and it will not hold you. Ridge anchors are lagged into rafters or trusses, and the lags are the ones the manufacturer specifies, not whatever was in the truck.
Skylights kill people every year. From above, on a low slope roof, a skylight looks like part of the deck, especially under a new layer of felt or a light dusting of snow. A skylight is a hole. It gets a screen, a cover rated for twice the load, or a guardrail around it, before anybody walks the roof.
Weather decides more than any of us do. Frost on shingles in the morning, dew that has not burned off, wind over about twenty five miles an hour with sheet goods in your hands. Those are stop conditions. Nobody on this crew has to justify coming down.
And the way up and down. Ladder tied at the top, three feet past the eave, footed on solid ground. The last three feet of the climb, stepping from ladder to roof, is where a lot of it happens because that is the moment people let go with both hands.
Point at these before anybody starts
A talk delivered in a trailer is a meeting. Stand where the work is and put a hand on each of these.
- The eave, the rakes and any valley edge where somebody will be working
- Every skylight, chimney chase, roof hatch and framed opening, named out loud
- The anchor points, and what structural member each one is fastened to
- The access ladder, tied at the top and extended three feet above the eave
- The ground below the work area, and where material and debris are landing
- The forecast for the next four hours, wind and rain and temperature
The rules that apply
- Steep roofs, steeper than 4 in 12, require conventional fall protection at 6 feet. There is no monitor only option.
- Low slope roofs allow guardrails, nets, fall arrest, or a warning line system used the way the standard describes.
- Anchors fasten to structural framing with the manufacturer's specified fasteners, never to sheathing alone.
- Skylights and roof openings are covered, screened or guarded before the roof is worked, and covers are secured and marked.
- Work stops for frost, ice, standing water, heavy rain or high wind, and nobody is questioned for calling it.
- The access ladder is tied off, extends 3 feet above the eave and sits on firm level ground.
Ask the crew
Three questions, answered out loud by name. This is the part that tells you whether anybody was listening.
- Name your anchor. Which rafter is it in, and who set it?
- How many openings are in this roof, and has every one of them been covered?
- What is the wind doing this afternoon, and at what point do we come down?
Close with this
Anchors set, openings covered, ladder tied. If any one of those three is missing, the roof waits.
A talk nobody signed for is a talk that, as far as anybody can later prove, never happened. Use the free toolbox meeting sign in sheet in PDF, Word or Excel, or print the PDF above, which already has the signature lines on it.
Questions people ask
Is fall protection required on residential roofs?
Yes. Residential construction is covered by 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13), and the trigger is 6 feet. The old practice of working a reroof without any system is not an exception, it is the most cited fall protection situation in the trade.
What counts as a steep roof?
Steeper than 4 in 12 for the purposes of the fall protection standard. At 4 in 12 or flatter the roof is low slope and more system options are available, including a properly installed warning line with a safety monitor.
Can a safety monitor be used on its own?
Only on low slope roofs and only under the conditions the standard sets out, which are narrower than most crews assume. On a steep roof a monitor is never a substitute for guardrails, nets or a harness.
More toolbox talks
TOOLBOX TALK: ROOF WORK
Attendance
Everybody who was present signs, including subcontractors and anybody visiting the site.