Fatality Narrative: Worker Falls 65 Feet from Scaffold

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On May 13, 2002 a construction welder was fatally injured when he fell 65 feet after his support scaffold failed. The victim was a 59-year-old male and a member of the Boilermaker's Union. He was welding inside a metal water storage tank with other members of his crew. The workers were using a horizontal welder, which is a machine on wheels that is designed to travel along the lip of the tank welding the seams of 8' by 22' sections of sheet metal. The operator sits on a seat attached to the machine as it travels around the tank. The operator had left the machine to do something else. The victim (a co-worker) got on the machine to move it. When he was done, he stepped off the machine and on to the scaffold to go back to his regular work area. The horizontal welder was still in motion. Its bottom wheels struck something in its path causing the top wheels to raise off the lip of the tank. The victim ran back to try and stop the machine. Before he could do this, the machine fell off the lip of the tank and tore out 20 feet of the scaffold. The victim, scaffolding and the 2000-pound welding machine fell to the ground. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Construction Materials Education Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Staff Development Welding Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Construction Equipment Construction Materials Construction Workers Equipment Maintenance Equipment Operation Equipment Operators Equipment Reliability Fatalities Hazards Personal Protection Protective Equipment Protective Measures Safety Education Safety Equipment Safety Measures Safety Practices Scaffolds Sensors Training Traumatic Injuries Welders Welding Equipment 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:
  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:20052023
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-5-2002, 2002 Sep; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: worker falls 65 feet from scaffold
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:074383bc320eb4877ad0672fbd5f2b4565b2bedf94bd0185ce4fee347b7ce17afe550879a6ba31945aa4186c4f4658ea740d1e70a47ec89a37ede60199a26668
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228868/cdc_228868_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 12.84 KB ]