NRA Roofing Shows Support for Sun Safety Campaign

NRA ROOFING & Flooring Service is supporting Marley’s 2024 ‘Safe in the Sun’ campaign to raise awareness for working safely outdoors.

As temperatures climb during the summer months, making sure roofing professionals are protected from the potential dangers of outside working needs to be a key priority.

Rising incidents of skin cancers, due to prolonged sun exposure, as well as other health-related problems, such as heatstroke, mean organisations responsible for the safety of their workforce are taking positive action.

Based in Ilkeston, NRA Roofing employs 250 roofers and has a £55 million turnover. Conscious of reducing potential risks for their outdoor workers, the management team supports many proactive sun safety measures to ensure its teams understands the potential health-related risks of roofing under the sun, and how to deal with them.

Rob Suckling, NRA Roofing’s Estimator for Slating and Tiling, is part of the team looking to drive outdoor working safety standards across the organisation. He says: “There’s no doubt that broader roofing industry awareness of sun safety practices has improved over recent years. Organisations have recognised it’s an important part of their remit to support their workforce, so that they’re educated around sun working dangers and have the practical answers to ensure risk is always managed.”

But Rob believes that worker complacency and carelessness when it comes to appreciating the health risk of sun exposure when on site remains an issue.

Rob continues: “Over their working lives, roofers may have underestimated the constant need to be vigilant and ensure they take the right measures to stay healthy and safe at all times when on the roof.  While working on hot and sunny days can be appealing, the power of the sun’s rays needs to be factored in. That’s why sun safety awareness, fact-based education and the promotion of practical safety protection measures continue to be vital.”

Sun Safety Measures

To counter the dangers of outdoor working in challenging conditions, NRA has developed a programme of sun safety measures designed to protect staff and ensure the topic remains front of mind. With responsibility for a large number of roofers, the company takes this worker welfare issue very seriously.

“We’ve instigated a wide-ranging plan to prioritise worker safety and address the particular circumstances of working on roofs when the sun is beaming down. It starts with a communication strategy to ensure our workers regularly get the safety-first message, loud and clear,” explains Rob.

“We use WhatsApp groups and put on ‘toolbox talks’ on site so that we continually share important information and reminders about staying safe in the sun with our workforce. This is a quick and accessible way to get the right knowledge to the right people.”

Regular Training Sessions

NRA Roofing also organises regular training sessions, especially during the summer months. These events are designed to educate and equip roofers with sun protection strategies, what they need to think about and the measures they can take to protect themselves.

This complements adjustments the company undertakes to offset extreme working conditions, as outlined by Rob: “When temperatures soar, where we can, we have the flexibility to alter core working hours, so that activity on the roof can take place in cooler parts of the day and not under the midday sun. This also includes clear instructions for roofers to take frequent breaks from being near hot roof tiles and to cool down in shaded areas.”

Stay Hydrated

To prioritise their physical and mental health, roofers need to remain hydrated when working hard in hot conditions. NRA promotes the ‘stay hydrated’ message strongly as an essential protection aid.

This also extends to asking roofers to keep an eye on colleagues. Rob says: “We encourage all our staff to look out for each other, especially when working on the roof. By monitoring each other and checking everyone’s drinking enough, any early signs of potential heat exhaustion, heatstroke or symptoms of a heat-related illness, can be spotted and acted upon. This collaborative approach to working safely is added protection for everyone.”

PPE Guidance

Finally, the company issues guidance around personal protective equipment (PPE) and the measures roofers can take. Rob says: “For instance, our roofers wear long sleeve tops to protect exposed skin from sunburn incidents, whilst the use of sun creams is also encouraged.  In addition, we try to balance general PPE requirements with the need for workers to be comfortable and safe. It’s about being sensible and aware of the environment workers are being exposed to.”

Safe in the Sun Campaign

The valuable educational and practical work of companies like NRA Roofing is also supported by important industry campaigns like Marley’s annual ‘Safe in the Sun’ initiative.

During 2024’s summer months, Marley is once again reinforcing the important message that all outdoor roofing and construction workers should proactively protect themselves from heat-related conditions, such as heatstroke and sunburn.

To help spread the keep safe message, Marley is supplying ‘Safe in the Sun’ branded t-shirts alongside a keep-cool towel. The items can be claimed at Marley’s website here, while stocks last.

Annabelle Brayford, Group Head of Safety, Health and Environment for Marley, comments: “In these health-conscious times, the importance of taking outdoor working conditions seriously is more relevant than ever. That is why the safety-first efforts of NRA Roofing are to be applauded.

“Climate change means summers are set to get hotter, and we urge outdoor workers to protect themselves by taking a few simple measures and ensure they can continue to work safely. We’re committed to supporting the construction industry so that everyone is fully aware of the sun-related risks and the simple things they can do to mitigate them.”

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