Fatality Narrative: Carpenter Falls from Beam While Setting Rim Joist

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On January 5, 2012, a 52-year-old carpenter/foreman was fatally injured when he fell from a beam. The victim had been employed for 14 years by a small general contractor who primarily did residential work, but also did commercial and industrial jobs. On the day of the incident, the victim and a laborer were at a jobsite, where they had worked for the past month, adding an addition to a commercial building. They used a ladder to access the top plate of the unfinished single-story structure where they intended to place a rim joist. They had previously been working from ladders and, according to the laborer, intended to return to working from the ladders once they placed the rim joist. Fall-protection gear was available on-site, but they did not use it. As they were moving the rim joist into place, the laborer was standing on the top plate and the victim was standing on 6½-inch-wide beam, when the victim fell 12 feet 7 inches to a concrete surface. The laborer called emergency services, who transported the victim to a hospital, where he died of head injuries two weeks later. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Construction Industry Construction Materials Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Construction Construction Equipment Construction Materials Equipment Design Equipment Reliability Fall Protection Falls Hazards Injuries Ladders Personal Protection Personal Protective Equipment PPE Safety Measures Safety Practices Training Traumatic Injuries 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:20051510
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-121-2013, 2013 Jun; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: carpenter falls from beam while setting rim joist
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a5d88c3038be7f6aeb46fc0ab197e4a1dfcf29615ff479d11916486259aebca9e0cf8295434be221dd71ae62396e4be1566bf926ec51d16fdeec2d6222a9172d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228750/cdc_228750_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 128.62 KB ]