OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221430994
PUNJAB TENT HOUSE INC.
EL SOBRANTE, CA·
Event description
Employee dies after fall from ladder
Investigation abstract
At 10:30 a.m. on November 21, 2021, an employee was taking down a party tent and employee fell from the top cap to the asphalt surface below, striking his head and neck. The employee suffered blunt force trauma to the head and spine as a result of the fall from the ladder onto an asphalt surface. He suffered a cervical #6 vertebral fracture and became partial quadriplegia due to his spinal cord injury. The employee had a tear of the dura membrane around his spinal cord with a persistent leak of cerebrospinal fluid. The employee remained dependent on a ventilator and was transferred to Kaiser Hospital in Modesto, where he suffered a cardiac arrest on December 11, 2021, however was resuscitated. The employee then went into respiratory decline on December 19, 2011, which ended in respiratory failure and death on December 21, 2021. A coworker was a witness party decorations which had been previously installed in the parking lot of the to the incident and was holding the ladder at that time. Another coworker (day labor hired from Home Depot) was also present during the incident and was also holding the ladder. Neither coworker was injured in the incident. CalOSHA identified several causal factors including but not limited to: - The employee was standing on the top cap of an A-Frame Ladder. - The employee was not properly trained in using ladders. establishment for a party. The employee was using an A-frame ladder, approximately 8 feet in height, to remove decorations from the ceiling of the tent before dismantling the tent. The incident occurred when the employee was standing on the top cap of an 8-foot A-frame ladder, unclipping the decorations from the tent ceiling. The party tent at its highest point stood approximately 17 feet high with the decorations hanging approximately 3-4 feet lower than that. The employee was standing on the top cap for one minute or less when the
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 67 M
- Event type
- 5
- Occupation code
- 0
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