The Virginia Association of Roofing Professionals (VARP) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Notice of Intended Regulatory Action for 16VAC25-210, Heat Illness Prevention Standard. VARP represents roofing contractors and other roofing industry professionals across the Commonwealth.

Protecting roofing workers from heat-related illness is an important safety priority for our industry. Roofing is physically demanding outdoor work, often performed in direct sunlight and under changing weather and jobsite conditions. Effective prevention includes hydration, rest, training, acclimatization, and recognizing and responding to the signs and symptoms of heat illness.

VARP supports the Commonwealth's goal of protecting workers from heat illness. As the Safety and Health Codes Board and the Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) develop the proposed standard, we encourage a regulation that is effective, understandable, practical, and flexible enough to work on real roofing and construction jobsites.

1. Use a Flexible, Performance-Based Approach

VARP encourages the Board to make the standard as flexible and performance-based as Virginia law allows, rather than prescribing a single method employers must follow in every situation.

Roofing contractors work on different types of buildings, roof systems, and jobsites under constantly changing conditions. Heat, humidity, direct sunlight, roof-surface conditions, wind, storms, and the physical demands of particular tasks can all affect how work is performed safely. Effective heat-safety programs therefore may not look identical from one contractor or jobsite to another.

A performance-based approach would hold employers accountable for protecting workers while allowing them to select the methods best suited to their employees, worksites, and conditions. Flexibility should not mean less protection; it should allow employers to use the safest and most effective approach for the circumstances.

2. Make Heat Thresholds Practical and Understandable

Virginia law requires the Board to establish temperature thresholds that trigger heat and high-heat procedures. As those thresholds are developed, VARP encourages the Board to consider the range of environmental and jobsite conditions that affect heat exposure and to avoid an overly simplistic approach based on a single measurement without appropriate context.

Whatever measurement system Virginia adopts should be clear, practical, readily available, and easy for employers and supervisors to understand and apply in the field. Contractors should be able to determine when additional protections are required without complicated or excessively burdensome monitoring.

3. Preserve Flexibility for Rest Periods and Other Jobsite Hazards

Rest is an important part of preventing heat illness. VARP encourages the Board, however, to provide employers with reasonable flexibility in determining the timing and frequency of rest periods based on actual conditions and employee needs rather than imposing unnecessarily rigid schedules.

This is particularly important in roofing. Roofing workers face significant fall hazards, including while accessing and leaving rooftops. Requirements that result in unnecessary additional trips up and down a roof could introduce additional risk. Contractors also must respond quickly to changing weather. An approaching thunderstorm, high winds, or rain may require a crew to secure a roof or complete a particular task before conditions become unsafe.

A heat standard should improve overall worker safety, not inadvertently create conflicts with fall protection, severe-weather response, or other critical safety practices. Employers need enough flexibility to coordinate heat protections with the full range of hazards present on a roofing jobsite.

4. Develop Workable Acclimatization Requirements

VARP supports acclimatization, particularly for workers who are new to roofing, returning to work after an absence, or otherwise unaccustomed to working in hot conditions. Gradually increasing exposure to strenuous work in the heat can be an important part of preventing heat illness.

At the same time, acclimatization can vary based on the individual, work history, job demands, and environmental conditions. Rigid schedules can create significant administrative and operational challenges and may not be the best approach for every worker or jobsite.

VARP encourages the Board to establish requirements that recognize acclimatization as an important safety practice while allowing employers reasonable flexibility to manage it based on actual working conditions and employee needs.

5. Recognize Effective Existing Heat-Safety Programs

Many roofing contractors already have heat-illness prevention practices and safety programs in place. VARP encourages the Board to allow employers with effective existing programs to adapt those programs to meet Virginia's requirements rather than requiring them to discard proven practices and create entirely new programs solely for regulatory compliance.

The focus should remain on effective worker protection. Recognizing compliant existing programs would allow employers to devote resources to training, supervision, hydration, rest, and other practical safety measures rather than duplicative paperwork.

6. Keep Monitoring and Recordkeeping Practical

The eventual regulation should provide employers with clear expectations without creating monitoring or recordkeeping requirements that are disproportionate to the safety benefit. Roofing and construction employers frequently manage multiple mobile jobsites, changing crews, and rapidly changing weather conditions.

VARP encourages the Board to develop practical compliance tools that supervisors can use in the field and to avoid requirements that effectively turn routine heat-safety management into a continuous administrative exercise. The standard should also recognize employers' good-faith efforts to implement and maintain effective heat-safety programs.

7. Include Roofing and Construction Expertise Throughout Rulemaking

The General Assembly directed the Board to convene an advisory panel to assist in developing the regulations. VARP strongly encourages DOLI and the Board to continue seeking direct input from employers and safety professionals with construction and roofing experience as specific regulatory language is developed.

VARP has taken steps to support roofing industry representation in the advisory process and remains hopeful that the industry will be represented as the regulations are developed.

Roofing contractors can provide firsthand information about how proposed requirements would operate on actual jobsites and can help identify unintended consequences before regulations are finalized. VARP welcomes the opportunity to participate in this process and to serve as a resource to the Board, DOLI, and the advisory panel.

Conclusion

VARP supports the Commonwealth's goal of preventing heat illness and protecting workers. We encourage the Board to establish clear expectations for worker protection while allowing employers to respond to actual jobsite conditions and coordinate heat-safety measures with other critical workplace safety requirements.

A practical, performance-oriented approach can advance worker safety while giving Virginia roofing contractors the flexibility needed to implement effective protections across diverse and changing worksites. VARP appreciates the opportunity to provide input at this early stage and looks forward to continued participation as the proposed regulation is developed.

Respectfully submitted,

Virginia Association of Roofing Professionals