105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #689331

HEAD,WORK RULES,LADDER,CONSTRUCTION,LACERATION,UNSTABLE SURFACE,FALL,PAINTER,CONTUSION,SCAFFOLD

Event
HEAD,WORK RULES,LADDER,CONSTRUCTION,LACERATION,UNSTABLE SURFACE,FALL,PAINTER,CONTUSION,SCAFFOLD
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
689331
Report ID
552700

Event description

ONE EMPLOYEE KILLED, ONE INJURED WHEN SCAFFOLD FELL OVER

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE PAINTING A BARN IN RURAL UTICA, MINNESOTA ON JULY 25, 1 IVING ONLY A SEVERELY CUT LIP AND MULTIPLE BRUISES. THE MOBILE SCAFFOLD WAS NOT TIED OR SECURED TO THE BUILDING. THE LADDERS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN USED TO EXTEND THIS WORK PLATFORM. EARLIER IN THE PROJECT, THE SCAFFOLD HAD NEARLY FALLEN OVER . TO STABILIZE THE SCAFFOLD THE FARM OWNER HAD RAISED A TRACTOR'S BUCKET LOADER AGAINST IT. 986. A MOBILE SCAFFOLD (5 SECTIONS HIGH) WAS BEING USED AT THE SOUTH END OF THE BARN. TWO WOODEN EXTENSION LADDERS HAD BEEN PLACED ON TOP OF THE MOBILE SCAFFOLD TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE PEAK OF THE BARN. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS ROLLING PAINT OUT AFTER EMPLOYEE #2 HAD SPRAYED IT ONTO THE BARN. BOTH EMPLOYEES WERE NEAR THE TOPS OF THE LADDERS. THE LADDERS CAUSED THE UNSECURED SCAFFOLD TO TIP AWAY FROM THE SIDE OF THE BARN. BOTH EMPLOYEES FELL APPROXIMATELY 37 FEET TO THE GROUND. EMPLOYEE #1 LANDED ON HIS FACE ON A CONCRETE PAD BELOW AND DIED INSTANTLY FROM MASSIVE HE AD INJURIES. EMPLOYEE #2 LANDED ON ONE OF THE CROSS BRACES OF THE SCAFFOLD, RECE

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 20 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    5
    Source
    25
    Occupation code
    579
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    13
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 36 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    1
    Event type
    5
    Source
    25
    Occupation code
    579
    Human factor
    6
    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.