Construction Injury Narrative: Carpenter Severely Injured in 11-Foot Fall from Scaffold [2018]

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 58-year-old journeyman carpenter fell headfirst 11 feet onto concrete and was severely injured when he was thrown from a Baker scaffold that tipped over. It was the first day on the job site for the victim and his coworker, an apprentice carpenter. The incident took place inside a roadway tunnel project. On the day of the incident, a foreman instructed them to get some plywood forms to be used to repair form work. They were unclear about where to get the forms so they walked through the tunnel until they found forms from a newly poured concrete wall section at the top of a ventilation knockout. Assuming that these were the forms they were looking for, they set up a Baker scaffold below the forms at the knockout. Working from the 8-foot-high scaffold deck, the victim stripped a form from overhead. His coworker was standing below inside the knockout ready to grab the 8'x2' form. As the victim leaned over the handrail to lower the form, the scaffold began to tip over. The coworker was able to move out of the way. The scaffold hit the lower wall of the knockout and he was thrown off, landing headfirst 11 feet below on the concrete. He suffered severe head, neck, and spinal injuries resulting in impaired mobility. Investigators found that the employer did not follow procedures to ensure that new workers were prepared to work, and that they did not receive proper direction, instruction, and supervision. The Baker scaffold was not appropriate for the assigned task, and it had not been assembled correctly according to the manufacturer's specifications, which require outriggers to be used when a 39" deck extension is added. The employer had established that boom lifts were the most stable and safest equipment to use when workers were accessing forms that were located at elevation. The employer had boom lifts available to perform this task, though the workers were not advised of this. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Education Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Industry Construction Workers Equipment Maintenance Equipment Operation Equipment Operators Equipment Reliability Fatalities Hazards Protective Equipment Protective Measures Safety Education Safety Equipment Safety Measures Safety Practices Scaffolds 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:
  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:20053875
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-176-2018, 2018 Dec; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Construction injury narrative: carpenter severely injured in 11-foot fall from scaffold
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f69b28bdad10aa1d9dc64264dd20f7a09269445a1b93eb8e3c8eace2306582993005c16d1f43adf8e82b065ad715d2f4ee066172696010cee34ee7e2c267ec90
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228898/cdc_228898_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 820.13 KB ]