Recently I stopped by the office of a friend and former associate. This innocent visit has had a lingering impact on me and combined with other recent events has brought safety to a heightened sense of personal awareness.

It was heartbreaking to sit and listen to the story of how a crewman on a reroofing project fell through an opening. This individual sustained serious injuries, multiple fractures, and was comatose for weeks.

Coincidentally, a week later I was made aware of two roofing fatalities occurring one day apart. Both incidents were due to falls through skylights. One of the individuals was a roofing consultant conducting a roof leak inspection, and the second a crewman on a reroofing project.

The second fatality occurred on a reroofing project where a half-day safety audit was held the day before. The audit identified a partially discharged fire extinguisher and two unacceptable plug-ends on power cords. High marks were given for fall protection. One day later a man crawls under a safety cable, does not tie-off, and somehow falls through a skylight to his immediate death.

So what do we do now? We can't throw up our arms and give up. Somehow safety must always be stressed, and for the most part I think that it is. Perhaps a bigger challenge is to emphasize safety without it playing like a broken record. You know the type, "in the event of a water landing your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device . . . "

Accidents happen sometimes out of naiveté and sometimes out of familiarity. It is my understanding that all of the accidents that I've previously alluded to involved new employees. Likewise, we should consider the peril of familiarity when you get so comfortable with construction projects and facets such as climbing ladders, working around skylights, or lugging hot asphalt that you don't really think that people are at risk.

Let me conclude with a few questions:

An old adage states that, "if you are not improving, you soon no longer will be good." Can we eliminate all roofing accidents? We all know that is not realistic, but we can keep improving and closing the gap.

The pyramid below is based on principles of continuous improvement. Where does your organization fall? I hope near the top, and I hope there is both a serious corporate and personal commitment to safety. It is only out of respect that this article is written. Seventeen years ago while a "green-horn" on a roofing crew I fell through a skylight. Instead of meeting the concrete floor 30 feet below, I met a pallet of Hefty trash bags piled almost to the ceiling. Safety improvements have been made since then, but something tells me we can do better - we must keep closing the gap.