Roofing Road Trip with Isaac Itofe- PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with Isaac Itofe from SOS. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast here. 

Heidi: Hello. Welcome to Roofing Road Trips With Heidi, part of the RCS podcast series. I am so excited today to welcome Isaac Itofe from SOS. SOS is well known as one of the nation's top health and safety groups, providing consultants all over the country who help roofing contractors really put together customized plans for safety that really make a difference. So we are excited because SOS is also part of Roofers Coffee Shop and they supply tips to us every month. We get to talk with Isaac. And so we, after reading a lot of these tips that have come on the show, we knew we had to share a podcast. So Isaac, thank you so much for being here today.

Isaac Itofe: Absolutely. Thank you for having me on. It's been a real pleasure working with the Roofers Coffee Shop and being involved with the roofing community, and we're happy to be here.

Heidi: That is great. We met on the road at the Tennessee Association of Roofing Contractors a couple of years ago and you were kind enough to reach out to me and say, "Hey, we want to do more for the RCS listeners." So, it's been a great relationship.

Isaac Itofe: Yep, absolutely it has. It's been a lot of fun for us. It gives us a great venue. I think the Roofers Coffee Shop idea in general, it was really needed. There's a comradery there that exists. Even between competitors, I see in the roofing [inaudible 00:01:36] that the Roofers Coffee Shop really gives a space for those folks to get together, share ideas, learn from one another's struggles, and for us it's been an awesome platform to have a voice in the industry and help folks to kind of navigate those safety and compliance issues.

Heidi: Well I'll tell you what, safety, I mean it's the number one issue always, no matter what. I mean, I know we're doing a lot on training right now and we're going to probably see a similar revolution on the training front that we've seen with the safety, but there's just nothing more important in roofing right now than safety. So Isaac, why don't you share a little bit about your history with safety, and also a little bit about SOS and how that started? As you're the owner of SOS, so kind of give us the big picture here.

Isaac Itofe: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Hopefully we've got a little bit of time because it's a long story, but I'll give you the CliffsNotes version.

Heidi: That sounds good.

Isaac Itofe:  I got into safety because my father was a contractor, so grew up in the construction industry. Being a small business owner, you kind of take on a lot of different hats. I guess fortunately for me, one of those roles that I got volun-told to do was safety. Now this was early on in I guess the development of safety compliance. I will say that my daddy was a little of the old school mindset, so he was one of those that he's been doing it this way for 30 years and we all know the guy. A little hard to learn, but he was prompted along by a OSHA compliance audit and a hefty citation that was issued. So through that, I got delegated the responsibility of figuring out, hey, how to run a safety program. What should we be doing as an employer to keep our employees safe, and ultimately how to keep daddy out of hot water. I can tell that story now. He's long since retired, sold the business, so no harm, no foul sharing those lessons learned. But from there I did go on to a work a pretty rewarding career for multiple large general contractors in their safety divisions. So worked everything from nuclear powerhouses, coal-fired powerhouses, chemical facilities, paper mills, including roofing operations, both from a specialty contractor side, such as roofing contractors, electrical contractors, and also from the GC side as well. So through that I always had a hankering, a longing to develop my own business where I could support business owners that I saw more often than not struggling to navigate difficult compliance waters. From the GC side, they're always looking at how do we limit our liability, our exposure to the things that our subcontractors are doing and that's well and good, but for me a real people perspective, it can be difficult for small business owners working for large GCs that have a lot more resources, folks that are dedicated to nothing but safety and compliance management to keep up with all the requirements not only from a government perspective, but also the requirements imposed by the general contractor. So, I just decided to bite the bullet. I prayed. My wife, my partner, my pillar, my support, I said, "Hey, I want to do this. It's something that I believe we can be successful, we can help a lot of folks, and I'm just going to take that leap of faith and jump out there and make it happen." That's been a couple of years now that we've been independent helping folks and it's been an extremely rewarding, extremely successful. We've really found a niche helping contractors of all types, but roofing contractors as well, to figure out how do they meet these requirements. How do they keep their folks safe? How do they keep their workers compensation rates down? How do they limit their liability claims? All of these complex issues, we take a real practical approach of let's put it in a framework, work it step by step, and make it something that's doable.

Heidi: That's so cool, because my dad was a general contractor, your dad is a contractor. We learn a lot watching our parents the generations ahead of us with their companies, and then to be able for you to bring this kind of safety program to contractors throughout construction through real life experiences, that's really valuable.

Isaac Itofe: Yeah, and we like it. It allows us really to exercise our strengths and to draw from our experiences, and it's fun to be able to work a rewarding career and use your knowledge and use your training to help others. From a mentor standpoint, really I get to grab folks by the hand, especially new businesses, folks that are just getting off into owning their own companies. Which right now, knock on wood, the economic climate is really great. We're seeing a lot of folks who have had that same dream for a long time that are biting the bullet, they're jumping off into it. They've got a lot of really great skills, they know how to do the work, but like I said, it's just the compliance aspect. They really don't know where to start, so we get to jump in, grab them by the hand and say, "Come on, we've been here before. Let's make this happen for you."

Heidi: Yeah, and there's a lot of our audience who are starting businesses or thinking about starting businesses in roofing I know who appreciate what you're doing, and the tips and just the information that we're able to get out there to help them do it safely.  As we're talking to all of these contractors listening, going into 2020, what do you see as the number one safety threat that roofing contractors should be thinking about and should be aware of?

Isaac Itofe: Wow, that's a great question. I would say it's a dual folded answer. First off has to be the pace of business. With the economic climate being what it is currently, I just see so many folks that are hiring people on, a shortage of good qualified workers. We have an aging workforce, to be quite honest. These guys that have been doing this work since the coal tar pitch days that pioneered the the roofing culture, the guys that understand it. The guys that have seen the changes that have been there, that have done it, time catches up with them. They're retiring, whether it's because they worked a successful career, or just because the work's rough and their body's wearing out and you can't continue to do that heavy physical labor. There's just not that big pool of really good, skilled workforce to draw from, so folks are forced to take on, unfortunately less trained, less skilled individuals. They're forced to put them on jobs that they need these folks working right now, and they're not taking the time to slow down and to give credence to the importance of ensuring folks are trained to understand the hazards of the work that they're doing. It is really rewarding work, but it is extremely dangerous, and I think that's the biggest hazard right now is that folks are just so slammed with too much work and they just struggle to provide good hazard recognition training to their employees.

Heidi: You know, we talk so much about the labor shortage, and I hadn't thought about that. I just love that answer, because that is a threat. When we're so desperate in this industry for labor, for talent, it's sometimes easy to just push them out because you're just desperate to get through those backlogs and to catch up on work, but really it's never been more important than now with all this new talent and all these new people in the industry to take the time for safety. That is really insightful.

Isaac Itofe: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Heidi: So okay, so thinking about that, Isaac, as we're talking through it, looking back ... Okay, so I've been in the industry over 20 years. It sounds like you have too, and I love the fact that we're sitting here on January 3rd recording this of 2020, and really, all of the things that have happened, the changes, the evolution, you kind of talked about it with your dad, but that evolution of safety for the roofing industry since 2000, can you kind of talk a little bit about what you've seen in the last 20 years? What has really changed, and how can we all learn from that?

Isaac Itofe: Yeah, absolutely. So, I will tell you the one benefit that I see with the younger workforce from a safety standpoint is that these younger folks that are coming into the construction trades into roofing, going to work for roofing contractors for the first time, I do find that they also bring along with them along with maybe the lack of skills, the lack of training and experience, they do happen to bring one unique added value, and that is their open mindset. From the perspective of safety and compliance, the one benefit is that we get individuals coming into the field that don't have that I've been doing it this way for 30 year mentality, and nothing's ever happened. So, that's good. And I see that from an education standpoint, from a schooling, they've been brought up in an era that really values personal safety. So if you look over the last 20 years, the public service announcements, and from government entities, local municipalities, they've done a really good job with informing young folks about the dangers of smoking, about the dangers of fire safety. Smokey the Bear is on every billboard outside of every state park in the country. Wear your seat belts, buckle up. It's really been programmed into the younger generation this mentality of personal safety. So, it's easier for them to buy into the mentality of company safety and complying with safety rules, when from an owner's perspective, you can break it down and make it make sense to them. You can say to these newer workers, "Hey, I need you to ensure these warning line systems are up in place, or when you're working on a sloped roof, you've got to be tied off 100% of the time because if you fall, it's extremely hazardous for your health. It's extremely detrimental to our business," and they really get that, and they really take that ownership to heart. I do see that they're receptive to training not only from a safety standpoint but also from a quality standpoint, because they do come in with that fresh perspective. That, "Hey, I don't know what I'm doing. I haven't been knowing this for a long time so I'm all ears. Teach me." So, that is a benefit. That is kind of the biggest change that I've seen over the last couple of decades. From an owner standpoint, I do see that folks are starting to get it from not only a complying with the OSHA standpoint and avoiding citations and avoiding penalties, but they also are more involved with managing their risk profiles from the standpoint of they are really active at trying to minimize the number of workers' compensation claims. They're really active in trying to mitigate property damage incidents and focus on their reputation. I think part of that is prompted by social media. Anything that happens out there, even in the construction world right now, everybody knows about it before you make it home at the end of the day.  So, I think whereas before you maybe could have a couple of really big blunders and it go largely unnoticed, anymore there is some large segments of social accountability where we have to be cautious of our image both with the large general contractors that are providing this work and the public in general. That perception is huge. So, I think those two things have really prompted a lot of positive response, a lot of growth from our industry as it pertains to safety.

Heidi: I work a lot with this next generation. We have kids who are millennials and Gen Z, and it's nice to hear you really complimenting them on the fact that they're open to this, so maybe us Gen X'ers did things okay with our kids. But I really think as looking at what you all do with SOS, there was something on your website that I'd really like to call attention to, and you called it a systematic cultural development within the framework of the roofing company's structure for safety. So, really that systematic approach and also the fact that you are looking at the cultural development, I was really intrigued by that. Can you share a little bit more of that philosophy with us?

Isaac Itofe: Yeah, absolutely. Where this stems from is really my own personal experience with my father's company, with his friends who also owned other companies growing up. I learned early on that the way we did things, the way that my father did things, was not necessarily the only way or the only right way. Now, he would have told you different. His way was the only way. But what I learned from that experience is that a lot of folks develop their own profile, their own company mindset, their own fingerprint, if you will, that makes their organization unique, regardless of the fact that they may be doing a roofing and their competitors may be doing roofing. Those two companies are unique in and of almost every facet I find across the board. Struggles similar, yes, but the folks, the organization, the structure, and their outlook, not only on the work that they do, but their mission of how their company affects their local community in a world is different. So, what we try to do is identify gaps in their program, gaps in their companies that they really need help filling. Some companies do a great job of mitigating the insurance world. They do a great job of handling workers' compensation. They do a great job of handling liability issues. But then we look to their boots on the ground, what are they doing in the field from a standpoint of performing inspections, what are they doing from a standpoint of conducting safety training that fulfills the OSHA requirements and setting themselves up to guard against those citations, and there's really not a lot going on there. So within the framework of that type of organization, our huge benefit is we get in there and help them to fill those gaps, where other companies, it might be the complete opposite. They may a great job of having guys out in the field that know what to look for, having foremen that do really great toolbox talks and safety training, but then you look at their EMR and their mod rate's through the roof and they're just not doing a really good job of managing those worker compensation issues, that companies framework is a little bit different.  A lot of times we can identify folks within their group that can be champions for those issues, and we'll work to polish that individual. To say, "Hey, you've got a really great HR manager here that is willing to take on this new role, this new responsibility." They just don't have the understanding that it's not the training that people go to college for a lot of times, especially from a construction industry standpoint, and we'll leverage our experience there to really work with that person to help bolster their skills and ability and to create that culture within that individual organization to be better and to propel their safety program forward.

Heidi:  And you have consultants who go in and work with those folks to find those champions, right?

Isaac Itofe: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. We work with a network of partners throughout the country, verified, credentialed safety professionals, in all capacities. We do things such as safety field inspections. We do OSHA 10 and 30-hour training toolbox talks, and we do have programs where it's a total safety compliance management program, where essentially we come in to help the contractor with all aspects. From developing safety manuals to doing prequalification packages as it pertains to their safety, health and compliance. Navigating the insurance waters, workers' compensation, claims management, alcohol and drug abuse programs. You name it. We jump in there and kind of help develop that program from the ground up. For those folks that have some framework in place, we really just come in and help to bolster and fill in the gaps where they have a need.

Heidi: That's cool. That's cool. So speaking of having a need, we did on the Coffee Shop, we really wanted to have some more safety on the site and we definitely wanted more safety tips. Like we talked about earlier, it was just such a great relationship that we built together, and in 2019 you had a number of safety tips on the Coffee Shop, and our listeners, you can go check them out. It's at safety tip of the week. It's under information on the navigation. I would just love to know what were some of your favorite safety tips from 2019?

Isaac Itofe:  Yeah, absolutely. We have a blast working on these. It really gives us kind of a creative platform to share information, and it gives us a little bit of creative license to really kind of pick and choose what we think may be relevant to the Roofers Coffee Shop audience. So in particular, a couple of that stand out, we did a blog in 2019 on EMR, or experience modification rate. That's an insurance term that relates to your numerical rating as a contractor for how well your safety program is doing, for how well your company ultimately manages workers' compensation claims. And from an owner perspective, I get asked this all the time. Isaac, what is this EMR that these big GCs keep asking me about? This rating? It's just a number to me. What does it mean? Why are they so concerned with it?  That gave us a really good opportunity to kind of formalize that. Put pen to paper and clarify what is a pretty complicated, pretty complex issue, and try to put it into plain speak where the lay person can really understand and take away some valuable information. So for us, that was a really rewarding opportunity because it is something we get asked 90% of the time when we're having conversations. "Hey, what's this mean? How do I improve it?", because it's important. It is literally a rating that helps contractors to win work, to get awarded bids, so they are extremely interested in knowing about that EMR. So yeah, if the listeners haven't had a chance to check that one out, I highly recommend that. If you've got questions, feel free to reach out to me and I kind of delve into that further.  For me, a passion of mine is fall protection. I have had the unfortunate experience of investigating very, very tragic falls, so knowing that falls are the leading cause of fatalities in our industry, it's a passion of mine. So anytime I can get out information that helps contractors, helps employers and employees to figure out how to keep themselves safe while working at heights. It can be a difficult issue. I know sometimes people say, "Well, it's 100% tie off," and if you've never been up on a roof that's an easy thing to say. But until you're out there in the field, in the elements, 110 degrees with the sun beating down on you, and you just want to get the work done and get home to your family, that's a real easy comment to kind of make. So if I can get any information out there that are there helping these folks to make good decisions, help make their life easier as it pertains to falls, I always want to jump on that opportunity. The last one that sticks out this year that was a lot of great fun personally, Christmas and this holiday season that just passed, my favorite time of the year. I'm a father, a husband, first before everything else. We got a chance to write a couple of holiday safety articles that maybe not so much pertained to workplace safety, but safety doesn't end at work. It's not something that stops when you take the hardhat, safety vest, and gloves off. It's something you take home with you that's just as important in your home life. So, we got to write some really fun articles that centered around keeping the family safe, keeping the kids safe. Having a great time, but doing that safely. That was a lot of fun for us. It was really, really rewarding. Those are kind of the primary ones that stand out from 2019.

Heidi: Well, I'm looking at him right now on the site, and I tell you what, really fun. I mean, the holiday safety tips, the New Year's Eve safety, really cool fun stuff that is just an easy read. One of the things I love too, is that you make it easy to understand. EMR is not easy, and you really bring that down to what I would say is for me, a layman's terms of helping me understand insurance, which is always befuddling.

Isaac Itofe: Oh yeah. Fun stuff, right?

Heidi:  So, [crosstalk 00:25:33] that's so great. I love it. I love it. So, what are some of the topics you're looking at for this coming year? What are you thinking about?

Isaac Itofe:  Without letting the cat out of the bag too much, I have established a couple of new relationships with OSHA and the compliance folks. I do have a new bead on some topics that they're actually developing in-house, that the OSHA is developing, and I've got the go ahead from them that they're going to be sending those my way, and I'm permitted to share that information forward. Which is really great from the standpoint that it is direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak. So, anytime we can get that information that's coming directly from OSHA, that's extremely helpful because it gives us a take on their perspective. It's official information. They're very cautious of what they put out because they want the information that is out there to be information that you can rely on. So when it comes out, you can guarantee that there's not going to be any speculation in that information. It is going to be straightforward, nitty gritty, good compliance driven information that can help not only employers, but employees in the field to try to navigate those compliance issues and ultimately keep themselves safe.  I know I talk a lot about compliance, but that's just the byproduct of failure to maintain process. When we talk about, "Hey, we're having compliance issues," well let's get past that. Let's build cultures, let's focus on getting our employees home safe every day, and by and by compliance issues become non-issues because culture takes hold and starts driving the boat. So yeah, I'm looking forward to kind of relaying that information that's going to be coming down the pipeline from OSHA. Spoiler alert, I know that they are developing one that's supposed to come out pretty soon. I should be getting that here within the next few weeks, about how to perform snow removal from rooftops in a safe manner. So they're going to give OSHA safety tips on snow removal from the rooftops. So, pretty appropriate information for this time of year.

Heidi: Yeah. See it first on the Roofers Coffee Shop on the safety page. Isaac, thank you. That's exciting.

Isaac Itofe:  Yeah.

Heidi: Yeah, I love being able to get that kind of stuff out, and right now we're going to we're not done with winter. We're going to see some snow, so that's going to be important.

Isaac Itofe: That's right, yeah. The hard stuff's getting ready to hit, so.

Heidi: Yeah. Oh no. So, the other thing that you're doing for us on the Roofers Coffee Shop is you're offering consulting services as part of our R-Club. For those of you who are not familiar yet with our R-Club, is a fun, educational, informative place that is a community for our contractors and the roofing industry to get a little bit more. So discounts on classified ads, additional information, and a big part of it too is we have partners like you providing this really cool consulting for members. Tell me a little bit about what you're thinking on that, and thanks for being involved with it.

Isaac Itofe: Yeah, yeah. No worries. 100% we're glad to have the opportunity to do that. Through the R-Club, we do offer a 30-minute consultation, so if anybody has some questions rolling around in the back of their mind and they've been hesitant to really engage with somebody, this is an opportunity to get some free advice. No obligation, reach out, ask your questions. A lot of times some of these issues could be a lot simpler than what you think they are. Complex issues can be broken down into very simple, systematic approaches, and a lot of times we can kind of clear those issues up just through a simple conversation. So, there's no risk there. There's no cost. You're already covered through being a part of that R-Club program. So yeah, absolutely, anybody that has any safety, health, insurance, I don't know it all, but I know how to point you in the right direction, and a lot of times I can get you the information you need in a very short order. So yeah, definitely reach out to us. We're excited and happy to be offering that as part of the Roofers Coffee Shop R-Club program.

Heidi: Yeah, we are so excited about R-Club. We're doing another big membership launch at IRE, and you're in good company, Isaac. We have Trent Cotney on there giving legal consultations.

Isaac Itofe: I tell you, I have to give those folks a plug. I've actually been down to Trent's Tampa office a couple of times. I hung out with him and his folks. Great, great people, so definitely good folks. If the listeners out there are looking for legal advice, you can't go wrong.

Heidi:  Yeah, and OSHA and legal and safety all goes together. There's no question.

Isaac Itofe:  Absolutely.

Heidi:  And speaking of which, one of the things that you're doing for us that we so appreciate is you're looking at some of the photos that come in to the Coffee Shop.

Isaac Itofe: [inaudible 00:31:32].

Heidi: Yeah, we love our photos, right? Our vacation photos, on the rooftop, wave from the rooftop. I'm sure you've seen a bunch of those.

Isaac Itofe:  Absolutely. Yeah. So with the photos, I'll jump right in. I think I know kind of where you're going with that. There's a risk there, right? Social media is great. I 100% endorse folks sharing what you're doing. It's not only great from a building your reputation, building your brand, getting your name out there, showing clients and community members your capabilities, but I have to preface that with a precautionary note that anything that goes online stays online for forever. So, I don't want to be a doom and gloomer, but just look at this through the lens of do you want this picture in front of an OSHA inspector? Do you want this picture in front of your insurance folks? If there was an injury that occurred, is this picture detrimental to your company's reputation? I know you're excited to post your work and post what you're doing. Absolutely recommend, 100% endorse that you do share your pictures with the Roofers Coffee Shop, but from that standpoint just know that we are looking at those photos, we are recommending that only photos that are 100% OSHA compliant to be shown on the website. We want to endorse safety, make sure that everyone is thinking safety, and that includes the social media. So just look at it through the lens of do my employees in this picture that I want to share, do they have their gear on? Are they using power tools? Okay, if they are, do they have their safety glasses? This is a perfect opportunity when you're out there getting those snapshots to share on social media, it's a great time to do a mini safety audit and say, "Hey guys, are we compliant? Are we safe? Is our warning line up? Is it six foot from the edge? Is it nice and tight? Is our ladder set up? Secured? All are our employees have their PPE? If we're on pitched roofs are we tied off?" It's a great reminder. Again, it's social accountability, and it is the face of your company. So if you're putting it out there on social media, put your best face forward is the advice that I would give.

Heidi: That is such great advice, because we get some great pictures that we can't use. That's why we're so happy to partner with you. We're not going to put anything out there that is sending the wrong message, and also it could be harmful to our contractors businesses by posting it. So, really taking that time, I think. And from a marketing standpoint, which I do, photos like you said, and social media are great marketing, but not if you're sending the wrong pictures out.

Isaac Itofe: That's right.

Heidi: Well Isaac, I just have to say thank you so much. This has been a really informative and fun podcast. Thank you for taking the time to visit with me today.

Isaac Itofe: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having us on. We love every opportunity that we get to work with the Roofers Coffee Shop. Really rewarding for us, so thank you for having us.

Heidi:  Thank you, and I again would encourage everyone who's listening to visit our Safety Tip of the Week page. Watch for our safety tip every week in The Week in Review newsletter, that e-news that we send out, and check out the R-Club. It's only $10 a month, but you're going to get some great consulting and some great benefits and discounts. Be sure to take a new look at the site in 2020, and as always, be sure to visit the podcast page to listen to all of our podcasts on Roofing Road Trips With Heidi. Thank you all and happy new year.