b'The YCC Front Innovative Safety Management: ACall to Action for Young Contractors Jv!onica Cameron As a member ofcompany thatitselfha ingovercome. The lack of adequate andfall prevention apridesonv aappropriate grealprogram, andtherisk managementhasus, and hopefully all Midwest Roofer readers, to recogsafelyasdesignatedled company,is representative for ourithard to admit (especiallynize an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson. to mythatourcrisis managemenlMostthe time, we arcin projects that are wellpeers)recentlycompany\'sofinvolved response fell shortconfronted with a disastrous high organized, with site-specific safety protocols andas whenguardrails wind incident thatthe roofing membraneinsulationthefirst line ofButitmes time to leftandstandarddefense.whencoon a cusLomer\'s building peeled up like theoncan ofpromplly reactan emergentything, including lidainsituation, eversardines.all oftraining and toolbox talks specifically relating to fall the afterstormcustomerwoulSoonthe windhit, thecalled saying,hazards, seems to be forgotten. Although itd be easy to "With a disasterknewneeded to call the best roof solely blame the field for this incident, the real fault is onof like this, II all ers I know, and thatwhy I\'m calling\'.\' From a productionus as contractors. In my opinion, safety is a bottom-up process isyoustandpoint, thatexactlyhe got: timelyeffectiveandinmanagementhould provide iswhatanddoesn\'t happenaoffice. We semergencyHowever, from a safety perspective, we trulythis content inplatformhats the information readily repairs.at makecaughtfield. Even wgotvvith our hand in the cookie jar. Below is a pictureavailable to ourith Lhe outstanding resources theits frontfollm\'li MRCASIIARPand thatSalina Journal printed onpage thengthathas available through theirprogram morning.greatblications such as the National Roofing Contractors pu7Association\'s Crisis Management: 1he Time iswhich is, Now, designed to give the basics for developing a crisis management planis tailored to yourownsituationthatcompany\'sunique we as anfall short by not proactivelyg this industrymakininformation available in a format thatour is user-friendly for field employees. Itbeliefthe strength of ourtion always has is mythatassociabeen ourto serve as the contractor\'sidentify abilityadvocate, the apparentwithin ournde a system or gapsindustry, a providsolution to fill thosethis was the very gaps. As I recall,premise behind YIRCA\'s Certified Roofing Torch Applicator (CERTA) program. In mywe have a real opportunity as young contracopinion, tors to follow infootsteps of ourand create the"forefathers" an innovalivc, safely deliveredlatform, such as a smart p phone \' .11!: ~\' ~ - application. Itbetter equipped to fill this communication ~ is Photo credit Salina Journalgap-notmanagement, butand only for crisisfor safetyrisk general. The management inpath already has been paved and Ifis notthat picture, ourtheis available; all we need to do is utilize technolitcompletely obvious fromfieldinformation employees were notpersonalarrest equip ogythe solution to bettermmunicate ,,vith our workforce. wearing theirfallascoment.investigatingsituation further, managers in InContractorsouncil conversations, we always are whenthisYoungCdicated thatsafety monitoringtem was in place. However,talkingt ways toroofing "sexy; andfrustratasys abou makewe are doesn inthi itwi ouit\'t appear to befull effect ins picture nor is . beingedthr inability to recruit and engage the next generation. utilized in conjunction ,vi.th a warning line approach.1his a perfectng pointour council to get ouret starti forfe wet Fortunately, the media, and more so the Occupational Safetywhile further enhancingSHARP safety theprogramming. andealth Administration, didn\'t pickon ourhortcoming, H upsbut this certainlys been a hotopicournMonica Cameron is a managerDiamondin ha t withinorganizatio atRoofingManhattan, because minor incidents like this quickly caninto majorKS, andmemberthe MRCA\'s Young Contractors Council. She turnis aof canhardal catastrophes, generating negative publicity thatbetocan be reachedmonica@diamond-roofing.com. 8www.mrca.org- Midwest Roofer'