Home construction worker falls down elevator shaft

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Program) (OR-FACE) ; Oregon Health & Science University. Oregon Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET)
• Description:
  On May 16, 2003, a 41-year-old worker fell 23 feet down an elevator shaft during the construction of a new residence. The worker was part of a three-person framing crew raising a third story in the home. The two co-workers were installing ceiling joists while the victim handed up needed materials. The framing crew was busy setting and nailing joists into place when they heard a sound like that of a "nail gun falling and hitting something". They went to investigate and discovered the victim, at the bottom of the shaft, seriously injured. At the time of the incident, the shaft opening was not covered according to witnesses. Shaft opening now covered and guarded. A 911 call summoned a fire and rescue team who found that the victim had expired, and a deputy medical examiner was called to the scene. Recommendations 1. Employers should design and use comprehensive fall-protection programs to reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries. 2. An unprotected opening, side or edge which is 6 feet or more above a lower level should be protected by the use of a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system. 3. Establish routine follow up to assure hazard correction or abatement. 4. In remote or obscure locations, make sure that workers know their location, and can provide directions to emergency responders, if needed. Develop an emergency plan that reflects the response time from local emergency services.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Construction Materials Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 10 Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Falls ; Falls - Construction - Commercial
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE03OR010
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026950
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-113383
• 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 03OR010, 2003 Nov ; :1-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Department of Human Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2002/09/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3289ef90a24173e4533772deaefee87cb279525aaf7f03828168d529ba1e98e06512411661d958006eef2562373774e1eb466b4e594aff51a846c168390b887f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169075/cdc_169075_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 132.04 KB ]