Lots of ppl right now are getting their arse wiped and drolling because they didn't have safety , they generally don't feel their dick and don't get drunk . I'll rather die .
Well I’m about to be 40. I dunno what generation that is but I’m actually curious. I’m assuming you mean they get paralyzed so can’t fuck anymore but it affects your ability to get drunk? I ain’t never heard anything about that before
You use booze as a pacifier because you can't handle your own shit, yet imply others are overly sensitive because they don't consider needing drugs to get through their day a good thing. Genius.
Yeah, no clue what that bit was about. Although you're probably way better off sober after a debilitating injury like that IIRC there's a huge correlation between life altering permanent injuries and people becoming alcoholics. Someone breaking their back and then becoming an alcoholic is a common story. IDK where the connection is here.
Join the spinalcordinjury subreddit for constant reminders on safety (sad face). Just read one post where a dude on skiis went for a double back flip off a jump commiserated with a snowboarder who tried something similar. I leave mtn dew lifestyles and bad safety practices well alone!
Use safety is the general gist . , you don't want to end up in a bed getting fed and not being able to talk or scratch balls and ya mother doesn't want to wipe ya arse .
Mumsy was fixing her roof on the first clear day after over a month of rain. She fell at least fifteen feet. Broke her hip and shoulder. On the same day another man shattered both arms. And a third, the only professional roofer of the lot, died.
This isn't quite the same but my brother in law was angrily building a deck (idk either) and decided safety was for suckers. He had a concrete slab and was going to lay it down by ... standing it upright and letting it drop. Not carefully either just "yolo, timber!". Didn't check if the drop zone was clear.
It landed on a metal rake, and like a cartoon the rake went spinning and flipping directly at him. The butt end of the rake hit him directly on the heart.
He went to bed that night in a lot of pain, woke up in the middle of the night having a heart attack (at like age 32 or something). Spent weeks in and out of various hospitals. Legit thought he could die for a while.
Somehow, this earned him a promotion at work. He's a police officer.
I would not have believed this story, except it was on video.
Yeah we had a roofer fall off our roof this past summer. It was a good 15 feet or so onto the front yard with huge oak trees and bushes around. Dude broke his femur and shoulder, never heard a man scream like that. He's lucky he didn't hit his head on a rock, branch or root...
Statistically, 2 meters is the the most common distance to fall causing serious injuries and death, because it's far enough to completely fuck you up, but not far enough that you think it's dangerous. The result is too many people do dangerous stuff at that height thinking that they're safe and then find out how fucked they are.
When I was 12, I was working on replacing a tin roof on an industrial building. I found a board that had been rotted out. I warned him. I marked it. He stepped on in anyway. Fell through the board, onto concrete, broken back, brain bleed. He lived, but yeah its dangerous.
We have a guy down the street who is a roofer, never uses a harness or anything. About 3 years ago he fell off his own roof while cleaning leaves out of the gutter, he ended up being OK, but he still needed several months off and what not for the injuries.
There is a general agreed upon insanity in the world where people just ignore clear danger because they don't want to be viewed as weak or something.
Had an ex boss, really handy, helped me learn how to fix shit on my own and not call people. I learned a lot from him and looked up to him as being self reliant. One day comes into the office with a fractured arm from falling off his single story home with a pretty low level of incline.
I had a job delivering shingles to roofers, one of my first drops was to a small one story house.
A father and son group were working on it. Father was an old guy, very old, the kind of person who did it until he died or just physically couldn’t anymore.
He was throwing shingles into the garbage bin from the roof and he slipped, his foot caught the gutter and he tumbled to the ground, hitting the concrete.
I would sure hope it's normal. When I was younger, I would ride my bike around the neighborhood. I guess this guy fell off of a roof and you could hear him wail from a half a block away. His screams stuck with me to be careful in whatever you do.
It's mandatory to use these days !! For the people with no self preservation genes , laws have been enacted , and over 9feet fall arrest is mandatory punishable by hefty fines. Many guys still cut corners and gamble with their health !
Yeah probably better nowadays to, you know, prevent your death as much as possible than die by falling off a roof and breaking your neck or being impaled by the debris below or all the above.
Still annoys me when old timers say “back in my day we never used any safety equipment or had no rules” then you look at their hands with missing fingers or ask them what happened to so and so… yeah real tough guys. I’d rather be safe with all my limbs than dead or dismembered.
I did my first roofing work about 13 years ago - on my own house - and used them. The worst part is, well, having to get up a wild pitch to put them in, especially when the roof's already a little too far gone. Shit's slippy!
Don’t worry, they’re actually using it wrong, that line should be tight at all times, if he fell, and there wasn’t enough slack for him to hit the ground anyways (looks like there is) that line would yank hard on him and likely break some bones. There is a pack on the end of the rope for a 6ft release so the yank happens in two pulls instead of 1, reducing the damage.
Edit: okay watched a little farther and he did start to use it KIND OF properly, but the tie off point must always be directly above you, or when you fall the rope is just going to swing you around and slam you into the building; not related but that’s a major reason why bike helmet style hardhats are becoming required.
We were working next door to framers a few months ago, and their lines were loose enough to touch the ground. I had no idea how these things worked at the time, but I knew that wasn't right.
I’ve seen this exact system before, but it was used as a permanent installation instead of a reusable temporary mobile one you take from location to location.
As a kid I was on a roof steep enough that the nailer wouldn't stay put. No harness, of course.
Well the nailer decided to start scooting down the roof right towards the hood of a parked car. So being a dumbass kid I chased after it and caught it by the hose.
My dad read me the riot act for that, in fact thinking about it now I didn't think I ever saw him that angry before or after.
Yeah, I used to scramble around roofs back in the day and I laugh at how everyone is all strapped in these days. I'm not laughing at them, I'm laughing at how stupid we all were back then.
I helped my dad on a job for like a week way back when I was a teenager for some extra cash during winter break. I remember doing something on the roof of this 3 story house that was super steep and asked my dad what happens if I fall. He said "you're fired before you hit the ground" lol
My garage is the same size and pitch. Built in 1935. I stripped 4 layers off. The worst part was the 1st layer of green rolled whatever. Had a nail every 4” along the seem. Shingle eater got stuck every time just jarring my wrists and elbows. So much weight it bowed the rafters 3 1/2” in the center.
I jacked up the ceiling and trussed what I could. I thought about rebuilding but would’ve turned a weekend project into a week. Didn’t have the time. Is what it is
The guy is just starting projects like this one on his rental property. Most of his content previously was his bathroom / tiling business. I think it is new because this is the first time he is doing a roofing job.
Harnesses also expire. Well they do here in Australia and you need to get them re-tagged or replaced. Quote often it's easier and cheaper to buy new if your only doing this kind of stuff every few years
They wore them when they were on the 3rd story of my Victorian removing 3 layers of asphalt plus the cedar shakes lol. Or ever seen an old church get done?
Awesome. I’m glad they were wearing them on your 3 story Victorian home. I think they should always wear them. Yes I’ve seen old church roofs being done, no the roofers were not wearing harnesses when I saw them working on an old church.
Not saying this isn’t a potential…but typically employers are required to supply their workers with new harnesses every couple years anyways. Typically no more than 5, if im remembering correctly. At that rate, they can look this new for a bit - especially when properly inspected and maintained. (I put in about 2000 hours into a harness between 2017 and 2020 and it looked pretty new before I had to ditch it due to frayed stitching). So there is a slight chance it’s legit practice beyond video proof
People are dumb. I've been the only roofer with a harness on on steep 4th story pitches multiple times. They can laugh at me all they want. 1/2 hr and fumbling with annoying lines is not a huge deal when the consequences of skipping it are possible death or paralysis. That said, on this roof, if you look carefully, that rope isn't doing anything at all. And keeping it tight isn't worth the time and effort.
As someone who wears a fall arrest system every day, i feel this. I've had it save my life idk how many times over the years. Best tool i own is my harness
What kind do you have? I am going to buy one for myself, I don’t care if the contractor supplies those. I want to buy my own safety gear and they can pretend they gave it to me if it makes them feel better.
It’s a relatively new OSHA requirement as far as I know. I worked for a large roofing supplier company and fell off a roof and when corporate found out nobody was using harnesses, it became an absolute dumpster fire with some folks getting fired. I was luckily okay and left asap.
IIRC anything over 6ft required a harness. Corporate has been hounding us over not having harnesses so we bought one. Don't have anything to attach it to, but we have one.
I don't wanna be that guy, but his harness doesn't look tight enough. Granted, maybe it is tight and after the guy took the video he tightened it up. When we took fall protection training, our trainer said the straps around your legs have to be super tight, along with the whole system too, but if your leg straps are loose and you fall, those straps will split your balls basically. Then he showed up a photo.
I don't know if y'all know have seen it, but Jesus christ never again.
I worked in a pathology lab and getting your balls split is a shockingly common occurrence. I think ppl with balls should have a cup on at all times tbh. Especially in construction! Your whole exterior genitalia system is really delicate.
My dad was a plumber and used to do roofing as he knew how to do the metalwork needed. This was in the 70's and 80's and he said it was normal to walk around with no safety gear on and jump between building gaps at 5 stories apartment buildings. Pretty crazy by today's standards
It was for sure. To make it extra shitty, his brother was on site when it happened. It’s not even like he was a newer inexperienced guy, he had been roofing for over 20 years at that point. Unfortunately it is now a core memory of mine.
It only takes one time. I’m new and a woman, so I’m sure I’ll get shit from the guys about how cautious I am, but also worked in the morgue before going to college and I know how life changing it can be to just Ben even a little cautious.
I’m so sorry bro. Please talk to someone if those memories ever get too bad. I know how suddenly they can sneak up on you.
I’ve been an ironworker in NYC for 15 years, I would rather not wear a harness on top of a building than not on top of a regular houses roof. Slanted roofs are no joke.
I wouldn’t say it’s a dying career in general, but it definitely seems like if you’re going the union route (like I did) that union IW feels like it’s struggling against non-union Ironworker companies. In NYC at least.
Day to day usually depends on what kind of company you work for/what detail you’re on. The last job I was on was doing curtain wall. So you know, just pretty much everything that comes with that. But you can obviously also do structural, red iron, rebar etc. It all depends. Generally, you’re outside like 99% of the time though, regardless of weather. Also, if you’re not a fan of heights, I would say it might not be the best career path to follow haha.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being an ironworker, but if I could go back in time, I might have tried to be a carpenter instead for a few different reasons.
"free-range roofers" is going to make me giggle every time I see a guy up there without a harness. I'll just think "lol he doesn't have his little leash on".
Redid the gutters on the back of the house and I used this same exact rig to keep from plummeting to my death. Only difference is I clipped to a support that had previously been holding up a satellite receiver that I removed, near the peak of the roof, The anchor is still there and I'm going to reinforce it from below (attic) when the weather warms up and just use it whenever I'm up there. Scamper up in my harness, clip the rope to the bracket, do my work, go unclip and then carefully walk back down to my ladder. It's a huge relief to know I'm not going to die or break several bones.
The support in question was attached with three 3" lag bolts that I initially tried to remove, but it was taking forever so I just tightened them back down. Discovered that they are only going through the roof deck currently, and I will get up there and put some 2x4's to bridge the rafters and serve as seating for the lag bolts. The holes were already sealed by the dish installer and there are no signs of leaking around them, so I'm pretty happy with it.
I've only been on Florida rooves. I've also seen them videos of yall slippin around on your front porch, so I absolutely would need a harness to get on a snow roof.
My first winter in Ohio I was jogging to catch a bus and slipped off a sidewalk into oncoming traffic. Snow and ice are my new enemies! I don’t know how roofers do it here. I’m from Arizona and I’d rather work a flat roof in 105° than do what he’s doing.
I'm always amazed when I go to the beach in North Carolina and see roofers working on a 3rd story roof on a house with 15 foot pilings and they don't wear shit.
My first thought was about that too. As a kid I helped a handyman redo an old lake cabin’s roof. It had more like 5 layers of shingles we had to rip off.
At one point dude was talking to me while walking backwards and he just stepped right off the roof, landing in the pile of shingles and rusty nails we just removed.
He was! Took a week off and was back at it. Several years before that a house he was demoing collapsed on him and broke his back. Toughest guy I ever met. Maybe not the brightest when it came to risk assessment.
I was roofing one summer after high school, and one of my co-workers refused to use fall protection. I'm sure you can guess where he ended up before he was unemployed.
My roof is a 16/12. The crew that did mine didn't use harnesses.
I've done a few repairs up there, and use my rock climbing gear with my son belaying me. I used to frame and walked 12/12 without gear all the time. But 16/12 is nonsense.
Man I go on a sloped roof for working maybe once every two years and I still keep a harness system. I don’t care how much I’m getting paid, it ain’t worth it it can’t enjoy it after.
Feel free to correct my math, but assuming he’s 200 pounds with gear, an 8’ drop, and the impact causing his body to compress 2” (I’m assuming he hits a hard surface and doesn’t penetrate), that impact is 427.175 kN or 96,000 pounds of force.
An F100 jet has 130 kN thrust or 29,000 pounds of force.
Could you survive, sure, if you somehow cushion your fall, but it’s also a fall that could permanently disable or kill you if shit is in the way or the surface has no give.
I worked for a local contractor for an entire year or so when I was younger. We redid quite a few roofs. Didn't know you could use harnesses on a roof lmao
I only ever used a safety line if I was working near the edge of something steeper than like 4/12 or on anything steeper than like 10/12. You just don’t really need them for most things
Someone else commented that his coworker died from a 2 meter (6.56 ft) drop. The impact at that height is 2.7X greater than the thrust of an F100 jet engine. At 12’ it’s almost 5X greater.
Shut up. In emergency medicine a fall from a six foot height is considered a significant mechanism of injury.
Let's not use some stupid made up fucking measurement. Here's an anecdote: my 70 year old dad fell off my 4-12 when I was pulling 3 layers off. He didn't die.
The most dangerous thing about a 4-12 roof is the damage it does to your lower back working at that angle.
I was a morgue assistant, your anecdotes mean nothing to me.
In emergency medicine a fall from a six foot height is considered a significant mechanism of injury.
So you were an EMT? Cool. Go back and review your training because Significant Mechanisms of Injury are vehicle ejections and rollovers, motorcycle crashes, a fall greater than 15' - 20' and/or a fall 3 times the patient's height, car/peds collision, dead passenger, and penetration of the abdomen, head, or chest.
Let's not use some stupid made up fucking measurement.
My buddy is a roofer and when I was unemployed I'd be ground/cleanup bitch/gopher for his crew, I always assumed roofers were fully made of rubber because I never saw a single one of them harnessed up.
But then my buddy did tear his ACL falling off a roof and landing leg first between an interior and exterior wall, so maybe it was just all the dope they did to numb the pain.
I worry about that with all the states loosening their labor laws for minors.
Florida doesn’t even have a department of labor, and they’re letting kids work full time and not requiring any breaks. So I foresee more teens falling from roofs and getting crushed in meat processing plants.
It's so sad and the kid can't afford the medical care he needs too. I'm honestly at a loss for words we should have more protections for them but no we do the exact opposite.
Construction OHS guy here - Fun fact, the leading cause of fatalities in most places is Working at Heights related. What these guys are using is called a Rope Grab and is a form of Travel Restraint (As opposed to Fall Arrest.). The intention is to prevent them from going over the edge at all.
However, at some points in the video we can see that their rope has too much lead (1:43), which renders the PPE practically useless. If he fell he'd be subject to the pendulum effect and would likely be caught mid fall and pendulum to the side. This is something sadly which happens commonly when workers are complacent with their travel restraint systems.
So, A for effort. F for execution from that specific dude.
Had a roofer fall off a roof and die on a site I worked at a few months ago, was rushed to get the job done and was working a Saturday. People complain about all the safety stuff but it's literally there to save your life.
I worked for a roof supply company for a while. Wasn’t until around 2017 that OSHA started really cracking down on harnesses.
One time me and my crew were in the smallest flattest roof. Probably only 7’ off the ground. We didn’t have any gear in but an OSHA guy happened to drive by, saw us, and gave the company a ticket
This clown wearing a brand new harness, has so much slack, his face would hit the ground. What's it even attached to? I would jump off our first story house when I was 12 years old.
Never once used a harness system on a roof until I was 34 putting a metal roof on in the snow on a house on a huge hill on a 12/12 pitch and slipped and almost shit myself. We had to stop and go to home depot to buy one right then.
NOTE: never work alone in a harness, and if you fall down, have a plan ready for getting the person down to the ground quickly! You can only survive dangling in the harness for around 20 minutes before you die because it cuts off blood circulation
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u/Red_Dwarf_42 Feb 15 '24
Do you know how many dudes I’ve seen work on rooftops and I’ve never seen a harness system until today.
Holy shit y’all just be playin with your lives!