March 2020

SIG Roofing: Safety Talk
ROOFERS: STAYING ON TOP BY
STAYING FIT AND HEALTHY
As a roofer you have the benefit of an outdoor life, with plenty of fresh air to help keep
you healthy. It won’t make you immune from everyday illnesses but on a good day it can
leave you feeling on top of the world. As with any job though, there are risks; from lifting
heavy items to exposure to dangerous materials. Richard Kendrick, Marketing Manager
of SIG Roofing, offers some practical tips on staying healthy and staying safe.
There can’t be many industries more heavily
focused on health and safety than
construction – and for good reason.
Whether that’s falling from a height, falling over
things or something falling on you; should the
unfortunate happen it will impact not just on your
business or workplace, there could also be
implications for your home or family life. So,
anything you can do to safeguard against it is
especially important.
By purchasing from a reputable supplier, roofers
today can be confident the products available
have been manufactured to modern high
standards and are safe to use. However, it’s quite
possible that over time, particularly when
replacing roofs on factories and other old
buildings, you will encounter less safe materials.
They were produced to the guidelines of the past
but advances in technology and
greater insight mean they are no
longer deemed fit for purpose.
They could even be deadly!
Asbestos aware
Asbestos and asbestos dust
cause around 5,000 work-related
deaths each year in the UK and should be
handled with the utmost care. Some higher risk
work with asbestos can only be carried out by a
contractor licensed by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE), while work of a lower risk can be
taken on without the requirement for a licence.
Before starting any job you should check what
form of asbestos is present. Blue and brown
asbestos were banned by law in 1985, and the
manufacture and supply of all forms of asbestos
was banned in 1999.
The HSE has produced Asbestos
essentials, a guide for
employers, managers and sole
traders on the safe handling of
asbestos, with task sheets for work
that does not need a licence.
Silica dust
Left: Richard Kendrick, Marketing Manager at
SIG Roofing.
Silica dust is another health risk with the
potential to cause lung disease. More than 500
construction workers die each year from exposure
to silica dust, so it’s essential to eliminate or
reduce it. Wet working, avoiding high pressure
spraying and wearing masks all help. A good
place for advice is the HSE leaflet Control of
exposure to silica dust, for guidance on limits
view the Control of Substances Hazardous to
Health (COSHH) Regulations.
Manual handling
It’s fundamental to a roofer’s work that he will
have to pick up and carry items such as roof tiles
or timbers. There is no actual ‘safe’ weight legal
requirements for manual handling, so it’s
important to refer to the Manual Handling
Operations Regulations (MHOR) for guidelines on
lifting, lowering and pushing and pulling.
Noise and vibration
Next, I’d like to look at noise and vibration. Where
possible you should remove people from a noisy
area and select quieter equipment. However,
20 TC MARCH 2020