Author: Amy Freeman | August 25, 2023

What can your roofing company do to set itself apart from the competition? Providing top-notch customer service is one way to stand out. Emphasizing the safety measures your company takes to protect your team on every project can give you an even greater edge. Focusing on safety is particularly important during the ongoing pandemic, as customers, employees and companies alike all become familiar with new ways of doing business.

Roofing Safety Practices to Highlight

According to OSHA, falls are the leading cause of injury and death in the construction industry. It's up to roofing contractors and employees to take the necessary steps to protect their employees from falls and other on-the-job injuries. Some of the safety practices worth focusing on include:

• Offering fall protection training.
• Providing equipment to protect the head, eyes and face.
• Providing personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) to employees.
• Inspecting ladders before use every time.
• Creating a buddy system.
• Avoiding working in wet or slippery conditions.
• Keeping hydration and heatstroke prevention in mind during the summer months.

How to Highlight Safety Practices

When customers are interviewing roofing contractors, they are often primarily focused on one thing: the project's cost. If your company's bid is very close to one from another company, you need to have something that differentiates your business from others. Safety can be what sets your company apart. Safety practices can also be what convinces a customer it's worth paying more to work with your company.

You can, and should, make safety part of your pitch. When discussing a project with a potential customer, be sure to talk about what you do to keep your team safe when they are up on the roof. If you are meeting a client in person, it might be worth it to bring PFAS equipment with you and show how it works.

An additional opportunity to talk about safety arises when you're providing an estimate for how long the project will take. Since wet conditions increase the risk of slips and falls, be clear with your clients that you prefer not to have your teamwork when it's raining or when surfaces are wet. Depending on the time of year, that can make the project take longer. Emphasize that it's often better to stretch the timeline than to risk someone getting injured.

When giving a quote to a client, add a cushion of time to allow for bad weather. If conditions remain dry, it will look as if you've finished the project earlier than planned, which is always a good way to wow your clients.

Be ready and able to answer any questions your potential clients might have about safety and best practices. Keep in mind that they might be concerned about liability. It's worthwhile to highlight your company's insurance protection and any state licenses to put customers' minds at ease.

Roofing Safety During the Pandemic

Due to the pandemic, potential clients might not only be concerned about what your company is doing to protect its employees from injuries, but also what you're doing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and keep your employees and customers from getting sick.

Some practices your company might adopt include switching to digital contracts, using digital technology to take pictures of the roof and plan out the project, and promoting social distancing on the jobsite. Instead of having your team arrive together, ask people to drive in separately. Ask your team to stay at least six feet away from each other, both when they're on the ground and when they're on the roof. When you need to speak to your client in person, do so outdoors and while wearing a mask if possible.

Honesty and open communication are crucial. Listen to any concerns potential clients share with you, both about general roofing safety and pandemic-related safety. If you show that you hear what they're saying and are willing to work with them to address their worries, you'll be more likely to win over new clients—no matter what the competition is doing.

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