June 2019 Newsletter

Jennifer Stone, Johns Manville; NWiR Chair
co-opted this month by Ellen Thorp, NWiR Executive Director

Shari Carlozzi, Tremco; NWiR Past Chair

The WORLD Award is being instituted in 2019 and will be awarded at the 2020 NWIR Day to honor an outstanding woman in the roofing industry. Details on the website; forward the printable pdf to colleagues.

Diana King, Springer-Peterson; NWiR Community Service Committee Chair

Coming Soon! This flyer will be going out soon to councils to give them guidance on how to reach out to the organizations that we have chosen to support on the national level. We are currently working on completing the tool kit and look for an e-blast that goes out to councils. We will be gathering their local events/meetings and will report back on a national level.

Christee Holbrook, Graham Roofing; NWiR Membership Committee Vice Chair

Please don’t forget to update your profile pictures on the website. This helps put a face to a name when we are at events!

Michele Pratt, OSEA; NWiR Education Committee

#Nationalsafetymonth #Safety #PPE

How many of you have put on a hardhat made for men that’s too large for your ladylike head? Or have you had the experience of walking into a safety store to purchase steel toe boots and the salesman says, “I think you’ve got the wrong store.”

• Fit hardhats so they are adjusted tightly to your head- a chin strap may improve the fit
• Fit gloves that there are not gaps in the palm or fingers
• Make sure safety glasses don’t have large gaps on the sides
• Wear shoes that fit your feet and are designed for the environment you are working in
• Measure safety vests to not have gaps that could catch on corners and nails
• Tailor fall protection harnesses to fit appropriately

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Math Safety for Roofing

When assessing proper fall protection in relation to the roof you are working on how do you ensure that you will be safeguarded from injury? Some mechanisms to consider prior to suiting up in your harness would be:

• Is the roof sloped or flat?
• Where is the best anchorage point- what type of anchorage will you use or install?
• Will you be utilizing a gravity line with a 3-foot lanyard?
• Will you be using a retractable lifeline?
• Does the roof have a parapet?

Once these questions are answered and you have done a thorough inspection to ensure that the harness is in good working order calculate the height of the potential fall by starting at your feet, measure the length of the lanyard and add 3.5 feet.

Falls are the number 2 cause of death on the job according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSHA indicates that fall protection is required at elevations over four feet in general industry, five feet in shipyards, six feet in construction and eight feet in longshoring operations. Fall exposure is calculated from the distance of where you are standing at elevation to the level below. Your fall protection calculation is based upon where your anchorage is located.

How can you calculate the fall arrest distance?

1. Total fall distance = Length of the lanyard + Height of back D-ring – Height of the anchor
2. Total fall distance =free fall distance + deceleration distance (shock absorber) + D-ring slide
3. Minimal required fall clearance = total fall distance + safety distance factory + height of suspended worker (between his feet and D-ring)
4. Add the safety factor before the nearest obstruction

See the diagram above for further instructions.

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New Workers vs. Newborns

Do you suffer from a high turnover of employees? You may be doing it wrong. The best chance new employees have at success is if we treat them like children. Read the latest Work / Life Balance blog from the Education Committee by Sue Drummond with HarnessUp.

Sue and the NWiR Education Committee also recently facilitated a webinar on this subject for NWiR. Watch the webinar from June 20th on Training and Retaining Employees.

If you have educational content to share with NWiR, send it to Education@nationalwomeninroofing.org.

Lee Lipniskis, CORE Contractors; NWiR Councils Committee Chair

Did you know that we have 33 councils across the US? Find one near you on our website. If you don’t see one, why not start your own? If you are a new council just getting started and looking for ideas for meetings and activities, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the other councils across the country. Just visit the councils page on the website and you can find contact info for leadership, along with a contact form. Here’s what some of our councils have been up to lately:

NWiR Seattle Council

July Meeting
6:30pm, Thursday July 18th
Special Guest: Kelly McKay, McKay Wealth Management
Topic: “Women investing in their future”
Location: DoubleTree Suites, Tukwila

August Meeting
6pm, Thursday August 15th
Special Guest: Tracey Prociw
Topic: “Personal Branding”
Location: TBD

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NWiR Dallas/Fort Worth Council

On 5/23 NWiR Dallas Fort Worth Chapter hosted a networking event at Top Golf in The Colony, where we also supported Red Nose Day. Please join us in supporting this wonderful cause to end child poverty! Thank you to all who attended

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NWiR Northern New Jersey Council

We are very excited to share the details for our July Event – Let’s Get Cheesy! As another step in the direction of education and self care, we will learn how to make our own mozzarella from Vinny Mootz and also have Jennifer Burns Katafigiotis, CEO and Founder of Weight Wellness Center to discuss nutrition and eating healthy on the run with us. We are grateful to Certainteed, who will be sponsoring this event.

Space will be limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. This event will free for members and $25 for non-members. If you’ve been thinking about joining NWIR, now would be a perfect opportunity!

Continuing our efforts to support the Center for Hope and Safety, we ask you to consider bringing any of the following to this event for donation: Cereal, Tomato Sauce, Juice boxes, cans of tuna chicken or ham, Rice, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Vegetable Oil, Pillows (must be new).

Please RSVP by Wednesday July 3rd 
Event Details: Wednesday, July 10th, 6-8PM
Location: Vinny’s Mootz, 265 Ridge Road, Lyndhurts, NJ 07071

Last week we had a fantastic June meeting, focusing on Work/Life balance. Jennifer L’Estrange from Red Clover facilitated discussions about how to identify what we need and how to create communities around us that help us get us there. We wrapped up with a very relaxing Chair Yoga session – it’s amazing what you can accomplish and how much better you can feel even while sitting down at work! Thank you to Peck Brother’s for sponsoring this great event!

Roofing Alliance

The Roofing Alliance is committed to shaping the industry’s future by funding education, research, scholarships and philanthropic initiatives, all for the purpose of securing the industry’s future excellence. Composed of 168 members representing extraordinary leaders from the contracting, manufacturing, distribution and service provider communities, the Roofing Alliance has committed $13 million to enhance the performance and long-term viability of the industry and allocated more than $5 million to fund 48 research, education, technical and philanthropic programs and projects.

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Carlisle Construction Materials

Due to the current challenges of labor shortages, material selection changes, regulations, and environmental responsibility, the commercial roofing industry is becoming more complex than ever before; construction professionals are installing challenging roofing and waterproofing systems every day. In the wake of these industry challenges, Carlisle Construction Materials invested in a brand new, state-of-the-art training and education facility in Carlisle, PA, to be in a better position to provide educational opportunities to the construction industry.

The company’s goal was to create an environment where people new to the industry, as well as seasoned veterans, can receive high-quality education. Ariel Andrejev, Carlisle’s National Technical Training Manager, was tasked with implementing an expansive new training program that includes 100- to 500-level courses. Carlisle now offers a wide range of classes on topics ranging from basic product knowledge to in-depth design and specification information. All trainings are designed to help individuals prepare for and foster a successful career in the commercial roofing industry.

The idea to implement this new program was driven by the realization that Carlisle’s training classes were targeting a small group of people who were authorized to install Carlisle products. “We identified a gap between the programs we were offering and the fact that our industry has people of all experience levels. Newcomers need to understand the basics, like common industry terminology, while more experienced individuals are interested in advanced systems, design concepts, and industry challenges,” Ariel said. She continues, “The industry changes every day and we need to provide programs to not only educate, but also to get people excited about a career in commercial roofing. This kind of continuing education is relatively new to the industry – we can now provide opportunities for individuals to master their trade.”

When asked about the importance of continuing education, Ariel says, “The labor shortage in our industry opens the doors for motivated people to learn a valuable trade that is often overlooked. Being knowledgeable and credible is extremely valuable in the roofing world.”

For more information about Carlisle’s training program, check out this video of PA State Representative Barb Gleim interviewing Janial Mack, Carlisle’s National Manager of Consulting Services, at the CCM Training & Education Center. Watch Janial and Barb discuss Carlisle’s training facilities and classes and the opportunities that are available to young professionals looking to break into the industry.

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• FRSA July 17-19
• Best of Success Sept. 15-17
• IIBEC Building Enclosure Symposium Nov 11-12
• MRCA Nov. 20-21
• IRE 2020 Feb. 4-6

The newly created Events Committee is looking for women to join the committee. Please contact Melissa Mulligan if you’re interested.

Are you speaking at an upcoming industry event? If so we want to know about it and share that information with our members. Email the information to Communications Committee Chair Anna Anderson.