Roofer Dies after Backing off a Roof and Falling 33 Feet to the Ground in Massachusetts

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Project (Massachusetts FACE) ; Massachusetts. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Surveillance Program
• Description:
  A 48 year old male roofer (victim) died after falling 33 feet from a flat roof he was repairing. The victim and three other co-workers were hot tarring the roof of a three-story apartment house when the victim apparently misjudged the distance behind him and backed off the edge. The fall was witnessed by the other crew members who immediately descended to the ground to administer first aid to the victim. One of the co-workers called an ambulance which arrived on the scene within seven minutes. The police arrived within two minutes and reportedly administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the victim within three minutes of the fall. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead from traumatic arrest. No roofers' warning line was used and no fall protection was provided to the workers. No safety program was in place. The Department of Labor and Industries investigators concluded that, to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Employ a motion-stopping safety system or erect warning lines around all unprotected sides and edges of the roof. 2. Develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive safety program that includes regularly scheduled worker training in recognizing and avoiding fall hazards. 3. Conduct periodic inspections of the work site to identify and control safety hazards.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Construction Industry
  • Occupational Health
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Safety
  • Safety Management
  • Workplace
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 1
  • Accident-analysis
  • Accident-prevention
  • Accidents
  • Injuries
  • Injury-prevention
  • Traumatic-injuries
  • Work-operations
  • Work-analysis
  • Work-areas
  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Falls ; Falls - Construction - Residential ; Falls - Construction - Roofs
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE91MA005
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028367
• 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 91MA005, 1991 Sep ; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Resource Number:
  FACE-91MA005
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166751/cdc_166751_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 108.28 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ad40fff5f1b011c18f560e345e536120ad55611e6da3661e719cf765c339b41fa8c6956b959815e45da1c49c2bf762ecc8ffbd0709d0c09c4725c6f54e2b9116