Transparency makes people safer, and that's especially true when it comes to OSHA roof safety. In September 2024, OSHA released its new Severe Injury Report dashboard, a useful online repository of reports, statistics, and trends regarding worker safety and injury. This new dashboard allows users, from prospective workers who want to learn more about hazards in their industry to facilities directors who need deeper insights for more proactive risk management, to learn more about severe injury incidents since 2015.
We recommend safety managers, facility managers, and interested workers explore this dashboard. There are numerous benefits to learning more about OSHA-identified risks and how frequent injuries or dangerous incidents occur. Organizational decision-makers can benefit by seeing what trends are developing and then using these real insights to power new safety initiatives and procurement requests.
OSHA announced its new Severe Injury Report dashboard on September 4, 2024, detailing its robust data sets and how users can search for information under specific codes and industries. The website also contains informational resources about safety training and best practices for reporting incidents and minimizing the risk of incidents.
When your goal is greater OSHA roof safety measures, use the dashboard to:
See injury stats: Learn more about the risks your teams face, how they're increasing or decreasing over time, and what types of injuries are most common as a result of different risks.
Zero in on the OSHA codes your organization should prioritize: Despite your best efforts, safety risks and specific OSHA regulations may fall into the background of your projects and internal audits. By reviewing current data sets from your industry, you can uncover the codes that are most often violated—which indicates they're a continual source of risk or that organizations like yours simply haven't fully addressed them. This can target your efforts and help you get the biggest ROI for new safety purchases.
Empower your staff and coworkers: Share the resource! The more data powers the actions of individual workers, managers, and safety directors, the better your company culture and track record can become on matters of safety and OSHA compliance.
While the dashboard is certainly worth exploring, it's most valuable as a resource for refining your safety protocols, implementing new policies, and making sure your business has the equipment and resources to be safer and more OSHA-compliant. Follow these core steps to better prevent severe injuries at your facility with property rooftop fall protection:
As a first step, always create a baseline assessment. The goal isn't necessarily to excel—it's to get a very accurate picture of your facility's strengths and weaknesses so you can create a targeted improvement plan. If possible, conduct multiple audits that focus on different types of hazards or different sections of OSHA, CCOHS, and local code requirements. For example, you can zero in on general fall protection, or you can focus specifically on rooftop fall protection.
If you are auditing rooftop safety, specifically, include all five of these dimensions:
Access
Edges
Equipment
Openings (such as hatches)
Navigation
Inspecting each of these areas closely can help you determine if you have the right protections in place, from roof safety rails near leading edges to warning line systems near trip hazards or temporary openings.
After completing your audit, review where your organization is meeting or exceeding standards and where it fell short. Celebrate the wins, then create purchase, remodeling, and training strategies to close the gaps.
You've already started this step by reviewing the results of your internal safety audit and noting down changes you'll need to make. But take the opportunity to dig deeper into the data:
Note down or flag every specific risk that remains in your facility.
Rank the risk. This might focus on the severity of the danger, how partial your organization's compliance with the OSHA standard is, or any other factors that help you determine priority.
Compare your results against the trends in your industry. If there are failed standards in your report that correlate with high-frequency and severe incidents online, flag those as high-priority: you know the risk of not addressing them is likely high.
Identify the top risks in your industry and use that information to reevaluate your audit results. If you passed certain codes and standards but those codes have frequent injuries, you might want to supplement your efforts as an extra guarantee against injuries and incidents.
At the end of this step, you have a ranked list of problems for your safety and facilities teams to address. This methodically created list should shape your policy changes, purchases, and conversations with decision-makers who may push back against new safety initiatives.
It's time to turn those risks into solutions. Start identifying what purchases and policy changes will best close safety gaps and enable your organization to pass future safety audits. These changes may encompass:
Signage
Training and safety seminars
Policy changes regarding workflows and tasks
New wearable safety gear
New safety installations like roof safety rails
To start, see where these solutions can start physically closing rooftop slip and fall risks:
Both permanent and non-permanent rooftop guardrail solutions serve multiple fall protection goals. They act as a strong visual cue by marking either safe rooftop pathways or unsafe edges and drops. They also act as a sturdy physical barrier that workers cannot easily or accidentally pass through. OSHA details specific requirements for roof safety rails, such as the necessary height of the top and bottom rails, where they need to be placed, and the weight they must be able to hold. Verify that your vendors manufacture rail systems that comply with these standards before finalizing your purchase.
Warning line system solutions are a visual cue that an edge or unsafe surface lies beyond. A roof warning line system is a permanent system that you can leave in place around building edges so workers can see the edge. These can be placed against the rooftop perimeter, around unreinforced rooftop sections, and hazards like hatches.
Finally, consider fall safety harnesses. When workers perform tasks along building exteriors or in elevated areas, wearable safety harnesses can prevent falls by holding workers comfortably and securely above the ground. They can also catch workers should they fall.
Once you implement OSHA-compliant safety equipment and installations, you can repeat your internal audit, measure your progress, and be confident that your measures are reducing workers' risks. At BlueWater by Tractel, we help you find the right OSHA roof safety solutions for your employees. Begin by exploring our safety rail systems, prevention harnesses, warning line system options, and other rooftop fall protection solutions. Then, contact our experts to learn more about how we can meet your facility’s unique needs.
