OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14195721
FRACTURE,HEAD,BACK,ROOFER,FALL
Event description
FALL FROM ELEVATED SURFACE (ROOF)
Investigation abstract
ON 10/8/84, FOUR ROOFERS WERE COMPLETING A FLAT ROOF ON A 2 STORY OFFICE BLDG (2 BY THE FIELD OPERATIONS MANAGER, WHO VISTED THE SITE EVERYDAY. HE DID NOT NECESS ARILY REMAIN THERE FOR ANY FULL DAY, BUT WOULD DO SO IF CIRCUMSTANCES APPEARED T O WARRANT IT. BY THE MORNING OF 10/10/84, ALL THAT WAS LEFT WAS THE CORNER TRIM ON THE NW AND NE CORNERS, THE CORNER TRIM ON THE SE CORNER AND MINOR FINISHING A ND CLEAN UP. ONE EMPLOYEE WAS WORKING ON THE NW CORNER, WHERE ONE OF THE LADDERS WAS ERECTED. EMPLOYEE #1 FIRST FINISHED THE SE CORNER AND THEN PROCEEDED TO THE NE CORNER. THE TWO OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS, MAINLY ON THE WES T END. THE OPERATIONS MANAGER ARRIVED AT MID TO LATE MORNING AND CLIMBED TO THE ROOF BY THE LADDER AT THE NW CORNER, WHERE HE STOPPED TO ASSIST THE EMPLOYEE THE RE. MEANWHILE, EMPLOYEE #1 CONTINUED AT THE NE CORNER, WHERE MOST OF THE WORK WA 10'X 50'). IT WAS A SINGLE PLY MEMBRANE ROOF INVOLVING NO BITUMINOUS "HOT" WORK. S BEING DONE FROM THE ROOF. AT ONE POINT IT WAS NECESSARY TO INSTALL TWO SCREWS. HE COULDN'T DO IT FROM THE TOP, SO, INSTEAD OF GOING DOWN TO THE GROUND AND ERE CTING THE OTHER LADDER, HE EASED HIMSELF OVER THE PARAPET ONTO THE DRIP EDGE. HE WAS UNAWARE, UNTIL HE GOT THERE, THAT ONE OF THE HELPERS HAD APPLIED GASOLINE T O THE DRIP EDGE TO LOOSEN SOME TAPE WHICH WAS STUCK THERE. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE WAS GASOLINE PRESENT, HE WENT AHEAD WITH THE INSTALLATION OF THE SCREWS. HE WAS INSTALLING THE SECOND SCREW WHEN HE SLIPPED AND FELL TO THE CONCRETE BELO W, BREAKING HIS PELVIS, INJURING HIS BACK AND CUTTING HIS HEAD. MEANWHILE, THE O PERATIONS MANAGER WAS MAKING HIS WAY AROUND THE ROOF TO SEE HOW THINGS WERE GOIN G. HE WAS HEADING TOWARD THE NE CORNER WHEN HE HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE METAL STR THE ROOF EDGE WAS SURROUNDED BY A DECORATIVE MANSARD PARAPET (METAL CLAD), 3' 6 IKING SOMETHING. WHEN HE GOT TO THE CORNER AND SAW NO ONE HE DESCENDED AND FOUND EMPLOYEE #1 ON THE CONCRETE. EMERGENCY AID WAS SUMMONED AND HE WAS TAKEN BY HEL ICOPTER TO THE U. OF MD. " VERTICAL HEIGHT AND 4' 8" SLANT DISTANCE. ALL THAT WAS LEFT TO DO WAS TO FINIS H INSTALLING UPPER TRIM (COPING) PIECES, AND FINISH TRIM ON FOUR CORNERS. TWO ME TAL SECTIONAL LADDERS (40' AND 36') WERE AVAILABLE AND HAD BEEN USED AS NEEDED. HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY OF THE METAL WORK ON THE PARAPET WAS DONE FROM THE ROOF BY LEANING OVER THE PARAPET. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PARAPET (OUTSIDE) WAS A 3" WIDE DRIP EDGE WHICH WAS 28' ABOVE GRADE. THE JOB AT THIS STAGE WAS BEING SUPERVISED
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 26 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 14
- Event type
- 5
- Source
- 42
- Occupation code
- 595
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 13
- Task assigned
- 1
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.