# Msha?



## Billy Luttrell (May 3, 2010)

Starting a job at a Limestone quarry on Monday. We will be under the watchful eye of MSHA here. Anyone ever have to deal with them?

They are the Miners Safety and Health Administration.


All 5 of us are going to be harnessed off and with steel toes. Usually I only have 2 men working the eves harnessed off so this will be interesting.

Interesting job....we have to remove about 4 inches of flaky and crumbly concrete to get down to the EPDM roof we are tearing off. All the dust in the air settles on the roof...it rains...it turns into concrete...rinse/repeat for a few year and this is the end result.

We are installing tapered insulation and a 2ply mod bit.


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## pro exteriors (Feb 19, 2012)

We recently did a similar job at a cement plant and it was the same deal, several inches of concrete covering the whole roof. We had to break it up with sledge hammers and then take it by the bucket full down an old tiny freight elevator that was less than 4'x4'. They didn't have a permanent on site msha rep so we never had any run ins with but from what I've heard good luck lol.


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## 1985gt (Dec 21, 2010)

Never had to deal with them but I'm sure they have a OSHA buddy on speed dial. I'd mind your P's and Q's. Also might not hurt to ask the head inspector on site. They should be more then willing to answer any question you have.


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## RoofYourWorld (Jul 27, 2011)

I used to work with a cement plant where MSHA was involved. Just follow their rules and you'll be OK. Be aware that they don't let anything slide and will issue citations at the drop of a hat!

My experience was that they spent more time going through paperwork than they did on the job-site. Have someone double check all of the training documents and logs they require....they can fine you for errors there too!


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## Billy Luttrell (May 3, 2010)

1985gt said:


> Never had to deal with them but I'm sure they have a OSHA buddy on speed dial. I'd mind your P's and Q's. Also might not hurt to ask the head inspector on site. They should be more then willing to answer any question you have.



Never did a follow up on this post..

Job went off with out a hitch. The MSHA man comes every Thursday and we were done on Tuesday.

We had an employee of the plant on the job from start to finish...he was pretty happy to get 5 hours overtime to sit and watch out for any possible safety infractions :thumbup:

No one is allowed on premises of the quarry unless they are wearing hardhat, safety goggles, steel toes, and reflective vest. No wedding rings, no earrings, no necklaces or jewelry of any sort. All vehicles had to have 2 tires chocked off at all times too.

Turns out MSHA was the one who made them reroof the building as it has generators in it and it was leaking and the quarry got fined for it. They have 28 more buildings for us to roof out there.

The biggest PITA of the job was having that many safety ropes on such a small job. Easy to get tangled and criss-crossed. The next ones I will probably do with 3 men instead of 5.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

I figured when I saw your pics that you got awarded the MSHA job.


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## 1985gt (Dec 21, 2010)

Billy Luttrell said:


> Never did a follow up on this post..
> 
> Job went off with out a hitch. The MSHA man comes every Thursday and we were done on Tuesday.
> 
> ...


:thumbup: Good deal. Sounds like this will turn out well for you. We have done a fair amount of work out at a meat processing plant. They have "stricter" rules then OSHA 2 or 3 safety people and what seems like 100 "bosses". Once you get the little quirky things out of the way it turns out to be a good deal. Some times a PITA but you get to charge for that PITA. They had a lot of the same rules, steal toes, hard hats at all times, if you were using a safety monitor they had to wear a orange vest and hard hat, the foreman had to wear a certain color hard hat. No wheel chock rules though 

Working at a correctional facility is much worse.


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## cnysbestroofer (May 5, 2012)

*just a thought*

have u tried out retractables in stead of ropes. i have found success with them. dont tangle as much


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

cnysbestroofer said:


> have u tried out retractables in stead of ropes. i have found success with them. dont tangle as much


I've been thinking about them, but are the retractables "approved" by OSHA.


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## RoofYourWorld (Jul 27, 2011)

Grumpy said:


> I've been thinking about them, but are the retractables "approved" by OSHA.


Short answer is "yes" - In most cases they are acceptable.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

"Most cases" means you're gonna get a fine sometime


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