A roofer’s helper, working for a roofing contractor in Texas, died when he fell through a three-foot square opening in a roof and struck a concrete floor.

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Texas Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (Texas FACE) ; Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission
• Description:
  On March 13, 1998, a 28-year-old roofer's helper (the victim) died when he fell through a three-foot square opening in a roof. The victim was in the process of removing roofing material from a one-story building by throwing debris over the side of the building or down one of the numerous openings left on the roof. The openings were left when equipment, such as heating and air conditioning, were removed as part of the building renovation. Plywood sheets were laid on top of the openings. The victim proceeded to one of the smaller openings, which measured about three foot square. He lifted the sheet of plywood covering the opening and pushed it forward. When he did, he took an additional step and fell through the opening. He struck the cement floor sixteen feet below. Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel were notified. They transported the victim to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The TX FACE Investigator concluded that to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Protect employees from falling into or through holes which are six feet or more above lower levels by employing a fall arrest system as part of required personal protective equipment (PPE). 2. Obtain information about workplace hazards to which their employees may be exposed and take appropriate action to protect affected employees from any such hazards. 3. Provide a training program for each employee who might be exposed to fall hazards.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction-industry Construction-workers Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 6 Personal-protection Protective-materials Protective-measures Roofers Roofing-industry Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Falls ; Falls - Construction - Commercial ; Falls - Construction - Roofs
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE98TX128
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028712
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-115345
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 98TX128, 1998 Oct ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Performing Organization:
  Texas Workers' Compensation Commission
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1997/07/01
• End Date:
  2002/09/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3d44aa13d9918eeff09837449fb7192525e9fa84b06613464ac183fdd7d4ca71fb1c5dea26c83ca722f27a67e567de9bc765aa493ab92b392c144dbaef964314
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166447/cdc_166447_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 17.47 KB ]