Fatality Narrative: Siding Contractor Falls 23 Feet from Apartment Balcony

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 61-year-old siding contractor died when he fell 23 feet from an apartment building balcony. On the day of the incident, he was working as a subcontractor at an apartment complex under construction. He and two other employees were installing trim and soffits on the exterior of the building. He was working alone on a third floor balcony of the building preparing to install a soffit. He climbed a 4-foot stepladder to measure a part of the soffit that extended out beyond the balcony and its temporary wooden guardrails. In order to position himself, he took one foot off the stepladder and placed it on the top guardrail. The guardrail came loose and he fell off the balcony, landing on a concrete sidewalk below. EMS responders took him to a hospital where he died. Investigators determined that the temporary guardrails on the balcony, and many others throughout the five building development, were improperly installed by a framing contractor. The original guardrails on the incident balcony had been removed by a siding contractor and his employees so that they could install moisture barriers on the building exterior. When they replaced the guardrails, they also did so improperly. The project general contractor did not ensure that the guardrails were installed and maintained in a safe manner. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Construction Industry
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Construction workers
  • Construction
  • Falls
  • Fall protection
  • Safety
  • Safety equipment
  • Safety measures
  • Safety practices
  • Hazards
  • Exposure levels
  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051378
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-168-2018, 2018 Mar; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: siding contractor falls 23 feet from apartment balcony
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228714/cdc_228714_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 599.38 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f5e3f79286cd0bbe0026e0aafa2e883c4d75af06e45c1842dfd4d4a06e379ab74245c6c63fdab340bb48c14e11c65e9c71034f655e85b5cb1634a0d0bcfff297