A lot of safety talk in the roofing industry tends to focus on fall protection, but one aspect that can be overlooked on the distribution side is the safety of delivery drivers.

In this brief video, Tammy Clark, owner of Tammy K. Clark Companies and a credentialed health, safety and compliance professional, draws on her 20-plus years of experience in the construction industry to share the three most common mistakes delivery drivers tend to make and how to avoid them in the future.

“I’m on a lot of jobs doing audits and inspections and I see a lot of deliveries,” said Clark. “When it comes to roofing distributors, roofing deliveries, there are some very specific things that catch my eye and are concerning.”

For instance, when setting up with an articulated boom truck or a crane, they have to be cognizant of where and how they’re setting up. This means checking where they’re parking, if overhead lines are in the delivery area, or where to set up caution zones.

Ignoring safety, even small steps like these, can lead to dire consequences. The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated the number of work-related fatalities occurring in the “lumber and other construction materials merchant wholesalers” category totaled 13 in 2021, up from eight the year before (a 63% increase).

View the full video here. For more information, check out Clark’s column on safety and compliance basics of materials delivery.