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 #693812

STEPLADDER,WORK RULES,SAFETY BELT,AIR SHAFT,LOST BALANCE,TIE-OFF,GUARDRAIL,CONSTRUCTION,FALL,FALL PROTECTION

Event
STEPLADDER,WORK RULES,SAFETY BELT,AIR SHAFT,LOST BALANCE,TIE-OFF,GUARDRAIL,CONSTRUCTION,FALL,FALL PROTECTION
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
693812
Report ID
355114

Event description

Employee killed in fall down air shaft from stepladder

Investigation abstract

At approximately 8:00 a.m. on November 26, 1985, Employee #1 was installing dryw ent. all studs on the west side of a mechanical airshaft that was located on the sout h end of the eleventh floor of an office building under construction. The guardr ails along the west side of the airshaft had been removed to facilitate drywall installation. Employee #1 climbed on a 6-ft wooden stepladder beside the open ai rshaft to put a screw in a stud that was too high for him to reach from the floo r. He apparently lost his balance and fell approximately 96 ft with the ladder d own the airshaft to the second floor. Employee #1 sustained multiple severe inju ries and was killed. The employee had not been using personal fall arrest equipm

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 23 M

    Nature of injury
    12
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    5
    Source
    25
    Occupation code
    573
    Human factor
    9
    Environmental factor
    13
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #981 Degree 0 Age 0

    Nature of injury
    0
    Part of body
    0
    Event type
    0
    Source
    0
    Occupation code
    0
    Human factor
    0
    Environmental factor
    0
    Task assigned
    0

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