805 Fall Protection in Construction

This worker is very close to edge of the roof.

Four of the crew went up on the roof, the victim remained on the ground to push plywood sheets up an extension ladder to crew members on the roof. When all the plywood sheets were on the roof, the victim climbed the ladder and got on the roof. Then he bent down near the top of the ladder to nail down shingles.

Another worker on the roof heard a loud noise, rushed over to the ladder, and discovered that the victim had fallen to the ground. The workers climbed down to assist the victim and the supervisor called 911. The workers administered first aid and immobilized the victim's neck. Unfortunately, the victim died in the hospital of traumatic head injuries later that day.

Findings:

The victim, who was hired the day of the accident, had no ladder safety or fall-protection training (the most common root cause for accidents). Although the workers at the site had fall-protection equipment, none of the workers were using it according to the manufacturer's instructions. The roof edge was more than 17 feet above the ground.

The safety management system root causes for this fatal accident included:

1. a lack of safety training in fall protection and ladder safety;
2. a lack of enforcement of safety rules; and
3. inadequate safety supervision.