It’s time to Cut the Dust

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how NFRC is working to protect roofers from harmful silica dust exposure. 

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth had the chance to sit down with Gary Walpole from National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) to discuss their Cut the Dust campaign. This campaign puts a spotlight on a safety issue that is often overlooked in the roofing issue – dust.  

Dust might seem small – in fact, by definition, dust is fine or small particles of material – but the safety risk it poses should be no small worry. Gary shared some background into the problem with dust on the jobsite:  

The problem is silica dust from cutting roof tiles with a skill saw or a mechanical grinding wheel. That dust goes everywhere, including into the lungs of our roofing contractors. And when silica dust enters your lungs, you’re looking at a variety of respiratory issues like lung cancer, silicosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  

In response to this issue, NFRC developed the Cut the Dust campaign. In building the campaign, they took notes from a previous NFRC safety campaign (Safe2Torch). Gary explained, “Safe2Torch has been successful at changing the culture. And right now, we’re nine years into that campaign. So, in making the Cut the Dust campaign, we decided not to reinvent the wheel. It’s set up very similar.” 

This new campaign is a combined effort of raising awareness of the issue of silica dust and highlights different safety precautions that professionals can take to protect themselves. As Gary put it, “We don't only want people to see the risk/hazard, we want them to have the tools and motivation to implement change in how they own and mitigate that risk.” 

Listen to the recording or Watch the episode to learn more about NFRC’s Cut the Dust campaign.