OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #823104
FRACTURE,HEAD,ROOF,WORK RULES,LADDER,CONSTRUCTION,FALL,ARM,CONTUSION,UNSTABLE POSITION
Event description
CONSTRUCTION WORKER INJURED WHEN LADDER BOTTOM SLID
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS USING A PORTABLE METAL EXTENSION LADDER ON A DROP CLOTH PLACED O DDER, BELIEVING THAT THE LADDER ENDS WOULD DIG INTO THE SHINGLES ENOUGH TO KEEP THE LADDER IN PLACE. HE ASCENDED THE LADDER WITHOUT INCIDENT, BUT, AS HE STEPPED ON THE LADDER TO DESCEND, THE BOTTOM KICKED OUT. HE AND THE LADDER FELL OFF THE ROOF TO THE CONCRETE SURFACE. HE SUSTAINED BROKEN RIBS, A CONTUSION ON ONE ARM, AND A HEAD LACERATION. N A ROOF HAVING A PITCH OF 6 TO 12. HE WAS TRYING TO GAIN ACCESS TO ANOTHER ROOF , HAVING A PITCH OF 4 TO 12. THE SECOND ROOF WAS 10 FEET ABOVE THE FIRST. BOTH R OOFS WERE 7 1/2 FEET WIDE AND COVERED A STAIRWELL BETWEEN GARDEN APARTMENTS. THE Y WERE COVERED WITH ORDINARY ASPHALT SHINGLES. THIS WAS THE 9TH ROOF ARRANGEMENT USED TO GAIN ACCESS TO SPRAY PAINT THE SIDING. ON ALL THE PREVIOUS ONES, SOME T RADE HAD LEFT BLOCKS NAILED TO THE ROOF. EMPLOYEE #1 HAD USED THE BLOCKS (UNDER THE DROP CLOTH) TO SUPPORT THE BASE OF HIS LADDER. IN THIS CASE, HOWEVER, HE NOT ICED NO SUCH BLOCKS. HE WAS IN A HURRY SO HE TURNED UP THE SAFETY FEET OF THE LA
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 39 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 5
- Source
- 25
- Occupation code
- 556
- 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.