ROBERT GREENOUGH 
RCABC President
A
s I touched on safety in the last 
article and the higher standards 
at RCABC for member compa-
nies being COR certified, I find 
it fitting to continue the safety discus-
sion, as we were fortunate enough to 
have WorkSafeBC provide an article for 
this issue.  
One of the most frustrating things 
as a commercial contractor is driving 
around and looking at all the sites – be 
them residential or commercial – and 
witnessing the blatant disregard for 
safety and the lack of enforcement of the 
rules and regulations that are quite often 
enforced upon us as member compa-
nies and the ICI (industrial, commercial, 
institutional) market in general. 
At times it would appear that there 
are two sets of rules. One set is enforced 
upon the true commercial contractors, 
most of which, at this level of construc-
tion, embrace and support the rules. It 
makes us safer, and when you add the 
roof observers (inspectors) to the list, 
it’s like having another set of eyes on our 
crews to help with ensuring our safety 
and quality. 
How is it that these companies that 
blatantly disregard the legislation and 
regulations get to continue in such an 
empowered manner? I am by no means 
being nitpicky about obscure safety stan-
dards and measures, or calling out minor 
issues that could be done better or in a 
more appropriate manner. I am calling 
out the companies allowed to operate 
without any guard rails, without steel-toe 
boots, with shorts and a muscle shirt or 
no shirt at all, without WorkSafe regis-
tration or without insurance. And while 
I am a staunch supporter of the free 
market, if we in the ICI sector must play 
by the rules, then so should they. If it’s 
truly about safety, the focus should be 
directed towards the willful violators – 
there are many.
RCABC member companies don’t 
shy away from the roof inspectors 
(observers), WorkSafe officers or any 
other set of authoritative eyes, as we 
hold ourselves to a higher standard 
than legislation and WorkSafe itself 
mandates. In fact, we have recently 
invested in a full-time safety and compli-
ance director position to randomly visit 
member worksites and provide feedback 
on safety and compliance. This level of 
construction embraces safety standards 
as it helps keep our teams safe and allows 
them to go home in one piece each and 
every day. We also pride ourselves on 
being at the forefront of safety with 
our mandate of all member companies 
being COR certified. We don’t view the 
inspectors/officers as adversaries – they 
are our partners and an extra set of eyes 
for company management to ensure the 
human factor (our crews) are following 
the laws, regulations, practices and 
procedures, and they truly separate us 
from the non-member companies.
With safety at the forefront of all of 
our minds, I want to address the issue 
of bubble-wrapping our employees 
and industry in general. There is a new 
mandate, driven by the big general 
contractors, to mandate Type 2 hard hats 
with chin straps and lower the height of 
fall protection to 6’ (or even down to 2’ 
in certain situations). To this, I would 
say stop, stop right now, and think, and 
consult those who actually work in the 
field and have worked in the field. Some 
of these mandates are obviously great 
ideas on the surface, but in practice, 
they are not practical, not necessarily 
safer and absolutely detrimental to 
production, which no one is willing to 
pay for. Many of these new regulations 
cost our firms un-recoupable time and 
money, which makes us uncompetitive 
to the firms who don’t follow the rules. 
As we have all seen, when bidding, we 
allow for the extra time because we 
know what it takes to do these excess 
measures, and then we lose the bid, 
as there is always a company (usually 
non-member firms) willing to take the 
risk of non-compliance or lower quality. 
These safety and quality mandates and 
specifications turn into lip service for 
them, but are enforced upon us. 
The Type 2 hard hat with strap 
seems great on the surface: it can’t easily 
fall off, and it stays in position. All great, 
but have you ever worn a chin strap all 
day? Eight to 12 hours of chin strap? 
The irritation will cause the straps to 
be extended to maximum so it’s just a 
hanging show piece, or only strapped 
when eyes are on the workers, and who 
could blame them? From a roofer’s 
perspective, we do not wear hard hats 
when there is no overhead hazard; we 
wear sun hats with large brims, light and 
airy, as the direct sun and high heat is 
the danger we face on the roof from 
overhead. Or, inversely, in the winter we 
wear thick toques and neck warmers. 
Roofing has very few head injury claims; 
we do not support the Type 2 hard 
hat mandate. 
8  l  ROOFINGBC  l  SUMMER 2026
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
BALANCED SAFETY

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