Carrying Forward Safety Day Messages: Safety Inspector Brock Hamre Walks Every Central Roofing Company Project Site to Monitor and Teach

April 10, 2023 | Central Roofing Company

Minneapolis, Minnesota

‘Safety Day’ is an annual Central Roofing Company event.  The messages and training points are embedded in the roof safety inspections provided by an independent consultant, Brock Hamre on behalf of the company.  It’s Central Roofing Company’s commitment to superior job site safety and the mantra: everyone goes home safety every day.

Brock Hamre is Safety Director at Twin Cities Roofing Contractors’ Association (TCRCA) and an independent consultant to Central Roofing Company on project site safety. In 2022 alone, Brock walked 250 project sites from the ground up at our request. Brock is tasked with auditing each site to assure Central Roofing Company roofing and sheet metal crews are upholding “The Central Standard” – safety standards that often rise over and above those established by OSHA regulations. The weekly evaluations serve two purposes: the first is to consistently set fresh eyes on the site in search of potential hazards that could cause injury and correct them before an incident. The second purpose is to teach.

In the event Brock discovers a workplace hazard on one of our job sites, it becomes a source of education for the entire crew in reconciliation and prevention. “I work with [the crew onsite] to do it right so they understand the danger and how to avoid that danger in the future,” said Hamre. The results of an audit are also shared with Central Roofing Company’s Safety Coordination Team, headed by Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer, Jason Stock, and Vice President of Production, Lloyd Carr. “We use the audits as checkpoints in project management and in planning meetings with superintendents and foremen,” says Carr. “The data informs decision-making in every area of our daily operations, especially scheduling. We always make time to uphold our safety standards and adjust production accordingly.”

Walking through an audit

When evaluating a Central Roofing Company project site, the work starts as Brock leaves his truck. He starts by surveying the staging area – is it clean? Are materials and equipment properly stored per the plan established by the Project Manager? The Daily Inspection log of the trucks or cranes on site is examined. If there is a Tanker onsite, Brock checks the set-up and fire extinguishers.

Next, Brock moves towards the roof. On his way, he evaluates the roof access details, be that a ladder, skip, or scaffolding. Each type of roof access has its own standards for how it is to be installed and function for safe use.

Once on the roof, Brock’s attention turns to Fall Protection. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020), roofing is the fourth among the 25 most dangerous jobs in the country and falls are the leading cause of workplace deaths in the roofing industry. Fall protection in the form of warning lines, guardrails, and personal protective equipment is required at all of our project sites 100% of the time. All Central Roofing Company employees – from the office to the field – participate in extensive annual training, much of which is focused squarely on Fall Protection.

Brock also checks over the finer points such as fire safety and prevention tools, personal protection equipment, hazard containers, and electrical equipment. He examines tools of the trade such as table saws and grinders as well as general safety assets like first aid and sanitary facilities. An inspection takes 20-60 minutes.

Commitment to ‘The Central Standard’

At Central Roofing Company, we set the standard in the commercial roofing and sheet metal industry for professionalism, productivity, ingenuity, and safety. Altogether, we are Central to excellent outcomes — on top of our projects and for each other. OSHA was created to assure safe and healthful conditions for working men and women. It sets and enforces standards and provides the training and resources needed to comply. The roofing industry and tradespeople are better today because of this important work. At Central Roofing Company, we feel that some OSHA standards can be improved upon in some important ways and so we use “The Central Standard” when there is room to use a best practice for safety on the job site. For example, per OSHA, the use of a Safety Monitor when people are working on the edge of a roof is considered an acceptable safety measure. However, OSHA also promotes using a full-body safety harness and tying off to an anchor system as the best safety practice in roofing. According to our own “Central Standard,” our team will tie-off on the roof. If, for some reason, the supervisor on site feels that the use of a Safety Monitor is appropriate, he or she will call Central’s Safety Coordinator to confer before making that change to our protocol.

Likewise, we standardized the height of the guardrail systems we use. We contract the construction of our scaffold systems instead of assembling them ourselves. We take full advantage of independent inspection experts like Brock Hamre. We continue to preach safety and train for safety every chance we get. As our Chief Operations Officer and co-owner, Warren Stock will say, “The most important thing a crewmember does every day is going home safety.” The Central Standard is our commitment and daily practice to create safety-first work sites. Compliance and attention to safety are top priorities for every professional on Team Central.

Central Roofing Company is a nationally-certified woman-owned and operated private corporation based in Minneapolis, MN. Established in 1929, the company has more than 200 union employees. Central Roofing Company focuses on projects for commercial roofing, repairs and exteriors service, waterproofing, sheet metal, and architectural wall panels. Home to the largest commercial roofing service fleet in Minnesota, Central Roofing Company offers 24/7 emergency response as well as extensive preventative maintenance options.  For more information, visit www.CentralRoofing.com.