Fatality Narrative: Electrician Falls from Ladder or Awning

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On October 21, 2009, an electrician suffered fatal injuries when he fell while installing electrical conduit. The journeyman electrician, 70, worked for three years for a plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractor. The victim and a company foreman were installing a heat pump as part of a heating and air conditioning system for a residence. The victim's task was to make an electrical conduit connection under the eaves of a shed attached to the house. The conduit connection was between the eaves and a small wooden awning attached above the shed door. There were no witnesses, but there are two likely scenarios. The victim may have placed a ladder against the house to the right of the awning and climbed onto the awning to connect the conduit. This may have collapsed the awning, dropping the victim to the ground where he hit his head on the concrete porch below. The second possibility is that the victim placed the ladder directly against the awning. His weight on the ladder may have caused the awning to collapse, again, sending the victim to the ground. A 24-foot extension ladder and an 8-foot folding step ladder were found on the ground; it is not known which was used. The victim was taken to a hospital and died six days later from head injuries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Education Electric Injuries Electricity Mortality Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Electrocutions Equipment Reliability Falls Fatalities Hazards Ladders Safety Education Safety Equipment Safety Measures Safety Practices Training Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Workers Worker Safety

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• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Case Studies
• 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:20051589
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-107-2011, 2012 Mar; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: electrician falls from ladder or awning
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7461bc74c02bbabeb1e6a43797928e80791fcee8ca8419050e78ea660b4e78e991dfb87e85202a80f68ffdd26a8796740f65653ba6863f88d85c12cc3f833fae
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228766/cdc_228766_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 193.27 KB ]