Ladder and Roof Safety

[Steve]

We have been talking about ladder and roof safety a lot lately with the cleaning of gutters. I just wanted to point out how important it is to be careful. Ken Hendricks, who ran a roofing business, died falling through his roof. It's such a shame but it is also a reminder. Be careful! Roofing billionaire dies after fall through roof - The 91st richest man in the U.S., a roofing company billionaire, has died after falling through his home garage's roof, local authorities said Friday. Ken Hendricks, 66, was checking on construction on the roof over his garage at his home in the town of Rock Thursday night when he fell through

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Wow this is truly ashame. This brings up the question. How many LCO's adapt and adhere to the OSHA rules, laws, and mandates set for our industry? How many LCO's keep MSDS Books in their trucks or in the office? Do you know the fines and repercussions of NOT following these standards? Do you know in some States that ALL applicators SHALL be Certified and/or Licensed Applacators, even to put Organic Fertilizer and even to spray or granular application of ANY chemicals of ANY kind for the purpose of Fertilization, Insect, Weed and Disease Control for a service fee. The Federal and Local EPA regulates these laws, so the fines are extreme and could close your doors on the 1st offence with very large fines if you get caught providing this service? I feel we should all Promote and Set HIGHER STANDARDS for our Industry just the same as we promote NO LOW BALLING. Here is the link to it. http://www.osha.gov/ Here is a link to Description for our section: http://www.osha.gov/pls....ription Here is the OSHA STANDARDS in detail for; Part Number: 1910 • Part Title: Occupational Safety and Health Standards • Subpart: Z • Subpart Title: Toxic and Hazardous Substances • Standard Number: 1910.1200 • Title: Hazard Communication. • Appendix: A , * B , * C , * D , * E * http://www.osha.gov/pls....d=10099 Here is EPA's site on pesticides http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ Thanks and enjoy the reading the standards is a long one, but a good one. Tim

[Little's]

That is very unfortunate.
When I read it, the first thing that came to my mind was the song Ironic, by Alanis Morissette.
I bet he had been on thousands of roofs in his life, and he happens to die falling through his own. So sad.

[Steve]

Very true.

[Steve]

I wanted to share with you all a little about Ken's life.

Did you know he got his start in lawn care?

You never know where or when opportunity will present itself so you have to keep your eyes open and keep experimenting!

Billionaire founder of roofing materials firm - Kenneth Albert Hendricks was born Sept. 8, 1941, in Janesville, Wis. He showed organizational talents by age 8, when he contracted out his lawn-mowing services when overbooked.

Hendricks worked as a power company truck driver and spent as much time looking at rooftops as at the road. He stopped at homes with worn shingles and offered to come back on the weekend to repair the roofs. He did spectacular business after hail storms.

By the age of 26, he had established a 500-man roofing operation that branched into commercial jobs including Kmart stores and military bases. Meanwhile, he invested heavily in real estate and became known for his involvement in Beloit's economic development.

In 1982, Hendricks entered the distribution side of the roofing supply industry with ABC Supply. Within four years, the company had nearly 50 stores, and Inc. named it the fastest-growing business in the nation. Later, Hendricks bought companies that manufactured building products.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (realhuntin @ Dec. 22 2007,10:14)]Do you know in some States that ALL applicators SHALL be Certified and/or Licensed Applacators, even to put Organic Fertilizer and even to spray or granular application of ANY chemicals of ANY kind for the purpose of Fertilization, Insect, Weed and Disease Control for a service fee. The Federal and Local EPA regulates these laws, so the fines are extreme and could close your doors on the 1st offence with very large fines if you get caught providing this service?

Tim, I know that here in Georgia you have to be licensed and certified with insurance before you can legally apply ANYTHING with a pre-emergent.

That makes me think of the thread where someone was saying, "...it doesn't matter... just do it anyway... if you don't, someone else will... may as well just go get your money!"

I look at it like this; not only should you do it for legal purposes, but if you're doing it and a customer asks to see your applicator's license, then what? Also, it's good to get certified so that you KNOW HOW to put the stuff down effectively. You can't just go out and throw out lime, fertilizer, seed and other chemicals and expect to have professional results if you don't know what you're doing.

In a nutshell, it just makes sense.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Billionaire founder of roofing materials firm - Kenneth Albert Hendricks was born Sept. 8, 1941, in Janesville, Wis. He showed organizational talents by age 8, when he contracted out his lawn-mowing services when overbooked.

Did you get that? Age 8... and he died a BILLIONAIRE. Motivating when you think about it, really. As sad as that article is, it should give all of us some good insight about the potentials our futures have.