Social Distancing on the Roof

By Don Garno, Custom-Fabrication Product Manager, Duro-Last.

Safely practice social distancing while still being productive and efficient.

As construction projects across the country pick up and crews return to the rooftop, many are concerned about how to safely practice social distancing during the pandemic while still being productive and efficient.  

The Duro-Last® Custom-Fabricated Roofing System was designed to be installed efficiently with less people on the rooftop, providing you the perfect solution for your team.

Take, for example, custom-fabricated deck sheets and parapets from Duro-Last. To reduce the manpower and effort to move these rolls on the jobsite, we encourage you to utilize roll moving devices which don’t require crew members to be in close proximity to navigate. And installation of the deck sheets through mechanical fastening promotes distancing through membrane stretching and fastening tabs from the middle of the deck sheet to the ends. Utilizing ratchet straps to start the custom-fabricated deck sheet or parapet installation is another method for spreading installers out on the roof. 

In the spirit of efficiency, multiple custom-fabricated deck sheets can be installed at the same time while maintaining social distancing as well. This method works great with custom-fabricated deck sheets on carpet rolls. With carpet rolls, you can install one custom-fabricated deck sheet with only two crew members – one operating a GriPull and one operating a screw gun.  

Finally, when it comes to installing Duro-Last custom-fabricated flashings, this is essentially a one-man job and can be done without crew members being in close proximity to one another.  

As we move forward during this time, utilizing Duro-Last custom-fabricated products is an effective solution for keeping crews safe and efficient on the rooftop. As always, we encourage you to be prepared before you start a roofing project, and take advantage of worksite management resources from the NRCA and OSHA. It’s important to know and follow the mandated guidelines and recommendations for the specific locations of your roofing projects, and develop a checklist to ensure that your crews have everything they need to follow these new safety protocols effectively. Finally, it’s important to think about your crews’ safety both on and off the rooftop, and implement social distancing practices for trips to and from the jobsite every day.

If you have any questions about custom-fabricated products from Duro-Last and how they can help you keep your crews safe and productive on the rooftop, contact me at dgarno@duro-last.com or by phone at 989-737-5596. 

Learn more about Duro-Last in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory.