Fatality Narrative: Framer Falls 18 Feet While Sheathing Roof

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  In February of 2016, a 53-year-old framer died when he fell 18 feet from the residential roof he was sheathing. He had worked for his employer, a construction company specializing in home remodeling, on several projects and had been on this project for nearly a month. He was a licensed contractor with 30 years' experience. On the day of the incident, the victim and another worker began work at 7 a.m. They were working on a new two-story single-family residence project. The victim's job was to finish sheathing the roof. Before they started work, the employer told the victim to put on a safety harness and use fall protection while working on the roof. The employer told investigators the victim refused to wear fall protection, because he said the rope (lifeline) got in his way and that he would trip over it while moving about the roof. He also considered the victim to be a subcontractor, so he did not believe that he had the authority to compel him to use fall protection. The victim used a ladder to access the 12/12 pitch roof and began installing sheathing. The other worker went to work in the building's basement and the employer left the site to get building materials. A light rain began to fall. A few minutes later, the worker in the basement heard the victim sliding down the roof, then saw him fall head first onto the concrete walkway 18 feet below. He called 911 and then began CPR on the unconscious victim. Emergency responders arrived on the scene and attempted to revive the victim, but were unsuccessful. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries' Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) investigators determined that in this instance, the victim was an employee, not a subcontractor. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Construction Industry Construction Materials Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Construction Construction Materials Construction Workers Fall Protection Falls Harnesses Personal Protective Equipment PPE Roof Falls Roofing Safety Equipment Safety Measures Safety Practices Work Environment Workers

  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• 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:20051389
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-162-2017, 2017 Sep; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: framer falls 18 feet while sheathing roof
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ef1e1eabba0f6e114ebe7569a4afdf17ccce54746bf940d26000184b58341a5b88492710c2e8b51c3f59045c607ef9d5510644ea170ba047e6a2557a3e971343
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228720/cdc_228720_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 375.08 KB ]