Steep-Slope Tear-Off With No Anchors and a Questionable Chimney Tie-Off
Your four-person crew is scheduled to tear off and replace 32 squares on a two-story colonial with a 9/12 gable roof. The eave is 22 ft above a concrete driveway on the front and 10 ft above a lawn on the back. Morning temperature is 38°F with heavy dew, and the shingles are covered with moss. No roof anchors are installed. The foreman plans to use roof jacks and a small staging platform on the back slope and to have one worker tie off to the masonry chimney on the front slope. The chimney is 60 years old and shows spalled mortar. A new worker asks whether the crew needs harnesses before the tear-off starts. The homeowner wants the job finished in two days and does not want anchors drilled into the new roof.
1. What fall-protection and access decisions must be made before any worker steps onto this roof?
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The job should not start until a competent person has surveyed the roof and written a site-specific fall-protection plan. At 9/12, this is a steep roof, and the eave is well above the 6-ft trigger in OSHA's residential construction standard. Roof jacks and a staging plank are access and work-platform tools, not fall protection. The chimney is not an acceptable anchor: it is masonry of unknown condition, it is not rated for a 5,000-lb-per-worker anchor load or two times the intended load, and spalled mortar suggests it may pull loose.
The practical options are to install manufactured roof anchors before tear-off, use an aerial lift or scaffold at the front eave, or use a guardrail system plus personal fall-arrest system with a qualified anchor design. Any harness system needs a rescue plan, trained users, daily inspection, and anchors located so that swing-fall and lifeline angles are controlled. Ladders need three rungs above the eave, secured at the top, and the moss and dew must be removed or the surface treated as a slip hazard. Document the decisions and do not let production pressure override the plan.
2. How should the crew sequence tear-off and material handling to reduce exposure on this roof?
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Sequence the work so workers spend less time near the eave and on the wet front slope. Start by establishing a ground drop zone, barricaded and signed, and use a debris conveyor or chute rather than carrying bundles and tear-off across the roof. Remove moss and loose granules before walking the surface, and delay the steep front-slope tear-off until dew has dried or use a temporary walkway and anchor system.
Stage new bundles on the back slope, away from the eave and not against the chimney. Do not stockpile tear-off near the edge where it can slide or create a trip hazard. Use roof brackets with toe boards on the staging platform, keep the platform narrow enough to limit movement, and require workers to stay tied off whenever they are outside a protected area. Keep one worker on the ground as a spotter and to control the drop zone. At the end of each day, remove debris, secure the platform, and cover open decking so the next morning's wet surface is not a hidden fall hazard.
3. The homeowner refuses permanent anchors. What should you do?
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A homeowner cannot waive the employer's duty to provide fall protection. Explain the options in writing: install permanent anchors that can be concealed under ridge caps or shingles, use a lift or scaffold for the accessible elevations, or use a temporary anchor system designed for the roof. If the refusal is about visible hardware, show how anchors can be placed at the ridge and sealed; if it is about cost, provide a written price for the safe method and let the homeowner decide whether to proceed.
If no safe method is accepted, do not start the work. Document the conversation, the refusal, and the safety basis for stopping. Do not tie off to the chimney, do not rely on roof jacks as fall protection, and do not allow workers on the roof without a compliant system. This is also a contract and communication issue: a written change order or a written stop-work notice protects both parties and shows that the decision was made with full information.