FALL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT EFFECTS ON PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFETY IN RESIDENTIAL ROOFING CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

This study is designed to obtain more scientific information about the residential roofing construction regarding the lack of applications of fall protection systems. Even though Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces the use of some type of fall protection requirements, many residential roofing companies overlook these standards and rules. This study thus aims at systematically identifying the amount of lost productivity that occurs when workers use personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) for a roof-shingling task on the residential roof. Twelve male volunteers from the student population participated in this study. All who participated in this study had a proper training of a roof-shingling task. The simulated residential roofing task was performed at the slopes 18°, 26°, and 34° respectively. The results from this study showed that the slope had a significant effect (p < 0.001) on adjustment frequency and time of the personal fall arrest equipment. The amount of time and frequency of adjustment increased with an increase of slope. The subjects spent 6.8%, 9.1%, and 11.2% of their two-hour time blocks for adjusting the lanyards at 18°, 26°, 34° slopes respectively. The results of this study indicate that the large amount of time spent on unproductive activities while using a personal fall arrest system. In addition, this study shows that with an increase of slope comes an increase in the frequency of lanyard adjustments as well as the amount of time spent on these adjustments. More user-friendly fall protection systems might be able to save more lives while improving productivity in the roofing industry.