GMCS Editorial: This is a quick and excellent read for all of
my residential and commercial contractors as well as my specialty trade and building
supply clients. More importantly, this
makes an excellent subject for a Toolbox talk on the job site. With an influx of new workers that have
limited site experience, this could be the difference between a hospital visit,
or much worse, and sending our staff home safely at night to their families. Additionally, this article highlights the
danger of vertical stacks to other, non-trade, site visitors.
Right before the first drywall sheet is hung, there is a
brief time window when framing is complete, mechanicals are in place and every
outlet and wire is in full view. Contractors, customers, inspectors and
architects along with various trade and service professionals, can be found at
the project site. They come to measure, inspect, approve and verify that no
detail is overlooked before the walls are obscured by drywall. And this is also
the time when jobs are typically stocked with drywall.
Stocking methods vary by structure, floor plan, job
circumstance, geography and local custom. The merits of laying sheets flat vs.
placing sheets upright has been debated for years with no consensus between
parties who manufacture, distribute and install drywall. One faction believes
drywall should always be laid flat while the other insists there is an
unnecessary ergonomic impact for workers who deliver and install drywall. When
stockers are required to place sheets on the floor and installers must then
lift sheets off the floor, the repetitive action can take a physical toll on
the musculoskeletal system.
In a perfect world, all drywall deliveries would be made
with a level site, easy access and all work done by hydraulic equipment—but
this is not the real world of construction. One fact that is not in dispute,
drywall is delivered and placed upright on jobs all across North America every
work day. How do we warn and protect people who come in contact with upright
drywall stacks and who have no knowledge of the potential harm they may
encounter?
Do They Know What You Know?
While you may know how to safely handle and store
drywall, never assume another person knows what you know—even when it is a
tradesperson who is on the job every day.
Drywall professionals know that pulling a stack forward
is hazardous. Imagine two drywall stockers loading a job when they see a
plumber begin to pull drywall sheets away from the wall. Would they stand there
and watch him do it? Of course not, they would call out or leap into action and
prevent the person from pulling the sheets down on top of himself. Leaving a
job with an unsecured vertical drywall stack and no warning provides the exact
same potentially dangerous condition without a team of professional stockers on
standby to prevent an accident.
A vertical stack of drywall does not have an obvious
appearance of danger and does not necessarily merit the attention and caution
one would give climbing a stair with no railing or avoiding close proximity to
an unguarded opening in a floor. This is just one reason that people will stand
close enough to a stack without realizing the hazard and be struck by falling
drywall when someone else causes the stack to become unstable. Another cause of
drywall accidents occurs when people who do not understand the weight of
drywall pull it forward to check for an outlet or wire.
Perceived Weight
vs. Actual Weight
How does this disconnect between the perceived weight and
actual weight of the sheets occur? Ten sheets of drywall, placed on the floor,
would be virtually impossible to lift all at once—and yet a vertical stack can
be pulled forward one sheet at a time, with minimal effort.
A stack weighing a thousand pounds, when tipped over,
will gain momentum as it falls. By the time it reaches the floor, the force
will reach 6,000 pounds. When drywall is delivered to the job and placed
upright against a wall, special precautions must be taken. Drywall sheets
placed on edge should always be secured against tipping and with a restraint
method that can be easily reapplied. The stack should also be labeled with a
warning or caution sign that states the potential danger of attempting to move
heavy drywall sheets.
Brendan Nair of Kobrin Builders Supply, a Foundation
Building Materials Co., understands the essential importance of drywall safety,
“At Kobrin Builders Supply, safety is a top priority and our core value. We
believe there is nothing we do that is so important that we cannot do it
safely. We are not only concerned about our own employees’ safety, but are
equally concerned about the safety of our customers, their employees, the
general public, and the entire building community. There are multiple benefits
of stocking drywall upright. However, significant hazards can be created with
this process if precautions are not taken. Incidental or accidental drywall
stack tip over can result in life changing injuries or death. We know that
securing and placing a warning label on each stack of vertically stacked
drywall results in a safer worksite and protects everyone who may be in the
proximity of the stack.
“Kobrin Builders Supply has taken a proactive approach on
this issue by securing all vertically stacked drywall with a securing device
that not only secures but also warns of the potential hazards of each
vertically stacked lift,” Nair continues. “Our company recognizes the multiple
potential hazards on construction sites and we want to make sure we do not
create any additional hazards to any jobsite. We know that securing and placing
a warning label on each stack of vertically stacked drywall results in a safer
worksite and protects everyone who may be in the proximity of the stack.”
One Irretrievable Moment
A registered professional engineer with a doctorate
degree walked up to the second floor offices under construction at the company
where she works to check on available electric outlet locations for a plotter
and printer.
As the engineer entered the space, she saw
drywall sheets had been placed upright, directly in front of the wall where she
planned to check for an outlet.
Cautiously, she pulled on the drywall sheets
and found that the stack was easy to pivot forward. All
that was needed to verify the outlet location was to pull the sheets forward
far enough to look behind the stack. At the exact moment the sheets
tipped past vertical, the engineer knew she was in trouble. No longer able to
control the sheets, the engineer, who played Division One basketball at
Princeton, tried to avoid being struck by jumping out of the way, but there was
no way to outmaneuver the force of ten 4-feet-by-12-feet drywall sheets in free
fall. The sound of the impact and screams sent co-workers racing to her aid.
The first person on the scene frantically tried to free the engineer but it
took two more people to arrive until there was enough combined strength to
remove the heavy sheets.
The emergency room doctor described her injuries as
somewhere between a hit from an NFL linebacker and a serious car accident. The
engineer could believe it—the pain was intense and she was in shock, it was
difficult to process what had just happened—all from pulling on a few drywall
sheets. The engineer was told she would need surgery but with a commitment to
rehabilitation she would make a full recovery. And then day three brought a
stunning call from her orthopedic doctor. Test results arrived that made the
doctor fear her femoral artery was seriously damaged and sent her immediately
to the emergency room at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. For
several hours, the engineer lived with the fear that she would lose her leg.
Looking back on the day of the accident, the engineer
says, “It was not my finest moment,” but when asked what she believes would
have made a difference to prevent her from pulling the drywall forward she
responds, “A warning, it just never occurred to me that drywall weighed so much
or could fall with that force, it was very frightening.” Asked about the progress
of her recovery, “The accident happened over nine months ago and I have had
major surgery, spent three months on crutches and I still go to physical
therapy twice a week. It has been a long road but I will be back to 100
percent.”
Requirements—Regulations
Home builders have the added challenge of
keeping jobs safe when home buyers and their families appear on the job before,
during and after work hours. In order to keep customers, tradespeople and
visitors safe from the hazard of falling drywall, more national, regional and
local builders have begun to require edge stacked drywall to be secured as part
of the subcontractor scope of work.
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as
Cal/OSHA, protects workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost
every workplace in California. Cal/OSHA by regulation may issue a citation and
or penalty for unsecured drywall stacked on edge under the California Code of
Regulations, T8CCR 1549(d). Piling Material.
Gypsum board, plywood, trusses, and similar
material shall not be stacked on edge unless positively secured against tipping
or falling.
We Want Everyone
to Go Home Safely
Drywall accidents have occurred on residential and
commercial jobs and the victims come from all walks of life and include a wide
range of ages from infant to elderly. It is incumbent on the drywall industry
to foster proactive and positive steps toward education in order to prevent
drywall accidents from happening in the future.
Nair believes Kobrin is on the right track, “Kobrin
Builders Supply has taken the leadership role in Florida by providing
securement, warning, and protection to every vertically stacked lift of
drywall. We feel it not only adds value to our services but more importantly we
know it is the right thing to do. We want everyone to go home safely every day
and are committed to doing our part to make that happen. After all, excellence
is never an accident.”
Source: Walls
& Ceilings
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