Fatality Narrative: Sheet Metal Worker Falls Through Opening in Roof

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On July 9, 2003, a lead sheet metal worker for a HVAC contractor was on the roof of a building preparing to set roof curbs for a ventilation system when he fell 32 feet through an opening in the roof. In order to install the ventilation fans above a welding shop, carpenters had cut 3 openings in the building's roof, each measuring 5'10" x 5'3" and installed small curbing around them. The openings had been covered with plywood siding and the roof membrane placed over the cover and loosely nailed. The covers were nailed loose enough that a person could pop them free by hand. The victim went on to the roof to install larger curbs as part of a three- man crew. Two workers on a lower roof level were to lift the curbs up to the victim. They pushed the first curb up to the higher roof level and the victim pulled it up. When they pushed the next two curbs up they got no response from the worker above. They went up to the higher roof level to look for him. They found that a cover had been removed from one of the openings and their coworker had fallen into the opening and landed on the floor 32 feet below. It is not known why the cover had been removed from the opening at that time. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Construction Industry
  • Education
  • Lead
  • Metals
  • Mortality
  • Occupational Health
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Workers
  • Work environment
  • Construction
  • Construction equipment
  • Construction workers
  • Lead
  • Roofing
  • Ventilation systems
  • Metals
  • Roofers
  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:20051944
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-13-2003, 2003 Aug; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: sheet metal worker falls through opening in roof
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228860/cdc_228860_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 17.04 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:246afb4647f73391e8d33c70d53a5abd998e29f9da0276711d07a9eb203ae6433fcbe12d340816fda0507c120b37d20c862d6c4b0ecda89ebe43fed703aa7e7a