Ironworker Dies in Ohio Following a 20-Foot Fall Through a Skylight Opening: FACE 91-11

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The case of a 38 year old ironworker who died after falling 20 feet through a skylight opening was investigated. The employer was a metal fabrication and erection contractor who employed 55 workers, and who had a safety policy, designated safety officer, and a comprehensive safety program which contained specific safe job procedures. The contractor had been hired to supply and erect an enclosure around a bottling operation located inside an existing building. At the time of the accident the steel skeleton and roof of the enclosure had been constructed. The victim and a foreman agreed to work overtime to finish welding support hangers for the HVAC system. While no one observed his fall, it is assumed that the victim was in the process of covering the ductwork with a fire blanket and either tripped on the angle iron and fell into, or stepped backwards into, an 18 by 24 inch skylight opening, falling approximately 20 feet and landing on the concrete floor, striking the back of his head. He died of an extensive skull fracture 2 hours after the accident. It was recommended that skylight openings be guarded by a fixed standard railing on all exposed sides, or a cover capable of supporting the maximum intended load, and that safety programs be developed to include training and educating employees in the proper methods of covering or guarding skylight openings to prevent falls.
• Content Notes:
  Publication date provided by the authoring office. There is no publication date indicated on the resource.
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Accidental Falls
  • Construction Industry
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Metal Workers
  • Nervous System
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 5
  • FACE-91-11
  • Accident-analysis
  • Construction-industry
  • Construction-workers
  • Work-practices
  • Traumatic-injuries
  • Head-injuries
  • Construction-Search
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  All ; Construction ; Falls ; Falls - Construction - Commercial ; Falls - Construction - Roofs
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE9111
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  1991
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00206917
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-193812
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 91-11, 1991 May ; :1-7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS 2022)
• Start Date:
  1991/01/28
• Resource Number:
  FACE 91-11
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164313/cdc_164313_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 323.75 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dde340dc03559f6ef6025334397220b795e9b36d9a3f7d8ccc804b2a604ab7acfe8db314a73d435b1b0073e07be648d4a5bd4aef462a7895291da50448268ed6