Fall from collapsing structure or equipment 16 to 20 feet · Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury
Final narrative
Two employees were preparing to stop working for the day and had started to lower the scissor lift to the ground. Both employees were tied off with their fall arrest systems. A gust of wind caused the trusses on the building to fall. It resulted in a domino effect and the last truss struck the scissor lift that was approximately 16 feet high, causing it to tip over while the employees were in it. One employee sprained his ankle and was treated and released that day. The other employee suffered injury to both elbows that required surgery and a laceration on the forehead that required stitches. He was hospitalized.
An employee was on top of a 2-by-4 purlin installing rafters. The purlin broke and he fell to the ground about 16 feet below, suffering a broken left femur.
An employee was working in a boom lift to help tear down a building. The employee stepped out of the boom lift and onto one of the trusses when the building collapsed, causing the employee to fall approximately 17 feet to the ground below. The employee sustained fractures to the wrist, hand, ribs, and face.
An employee was climbing a power line pole when the pole broke at ground level while the employee was approximately 20 feet up. The employee rode the pole to the ground and sustained 12 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a punctured lung.
An employee was on a pallet that was being lifted by a forklift to a height of 20 feet. The pallet broke and the employee fell to the warehouse floor sustaining fractures to their nose, ribs, and ankle.
An employee was performing tuckpointing while on a swing-stage scaffold. The rope on the scaffold broke and the side of the scaffold fell 20 feet to the ground. The employee impacted the ground and sustained a broken ankle that required hospitalization and surgery.