It’s rare to find a roofer that is getting close to reaching retirement age. Drive by a construction site and you usually see young 20 or 30 something men and women on the job. Well, you might say that it’s obvious that the type of work is physically demanding and not so popular with the older workforce. So how does the skill and knowledge get passed on to the next generation of roofers?
Typically, the older roofers find another career or move into management of companies. This is a problem for the industry. Without the availability of the experienced roofers on the job, it is difficult have an industry that is overall competent in its work.
When we lose our mature roofers, we lose a great deal of knowledge. The lack of actual professionals in the field that teach this to the younger generation brings down the overall quality in the roofing industry. We see this over and over in the lack of quality detail work in the field. The vast majority of our repair work is due to improperly installed detail work, i.e. chimney flashing, wall flashing, or skylight installations to name a few.
Keeping our experienced roofers working into later life is a valuable asset and staying in good physical condition is a large part of retaining older workers. Using lifting assists has helped a great deal over the years. Things like Skytrak and Equipter are just a couple of heavy equipment manufacturers that help extend the life of a roofer.
Many roofers are done getting on roofs into their 40’s and 50’s. Lack of flexibility and worn joints are usually the main culprits. A good exercise program that includes mobility work and strength training can help older roofers continue to install roofing into later years and even up to retirement age.
I am fortunate to have a son who has a Master’s Degree in Sports Science Education and is a trainer full-time. Even though he is in California and I’m in Michigan, he set up a training module online for me to follow. I had great success with this program and has allowed me to continue roofing into my 50’s. (Although a slight set back after having hip replacement surgery) The balance of mobility training, stretching, aerobic exercise and weight lifting is a sure way to stay in shape, not just for roofing but for life in general.
Roofers typically say, “I don’t need to workout, I get all the exercise I need roofing”. While a roofer does get a lot of exercise roofing, they neglect some facets that can lead to a break down of bodily function to areas that do not get used. Over use of certain muscles and joints can be a problem as well if not consistently working to balance your body’s muscular structure with the above mentioned exercises or activities.
The last few decades has seen a change in how people view exercise. Hopefully many of the younger roofers will start to apply some exercise rituals to their daily activities in order to be around later in life to make this industry a strong perpetuator of roofing knowledge to the next few generations.
If you would like more information on how to be fully functional into retirement age and beyond, visit www.FreshFocusFitness.net (Shameless plug for my son’s business) He can get you started no matter what level you are currently at in your journey through life.
