Fatality Narrative: Roofer Falls 18 Feet from Wet House Roof

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 50-year-old roofer died when he fell 18 feet from a house roof. He had 20 years of experience as a roofer and had worked for his employer's roofing company for two years. He was part of a three-person crew installing a metal roof on a two-story house. Shortly after 8 a.m., the crew was setting up for the day. This was their third day at the work site. The company owner had not yet arrived. A light rain was falling. The victim, wearing a harness, climbed up a ladder and went onto the steep slope 8/12 pitch roof. He walked horizontally along the roof for about 25 feet. No one else was on the roof. The crew supervisor was below in the yard. After a few minutes, the supervisor called to the victim, but got no answer. He went looking for him and found him unconscious lying on a concrete patio. The other roofer stayed with the victim while the supervisor called 911. Emergency responders arrived after a few minutes. The victim died while being transported by ambulance. The medical examiner gave the cause of death as "multiple blunt force injuries" resulting from a fall from the roof. The state investigator found that the victim's rope grab lifeline was attached to a roof anchor, but he was not tied off to it when he slid on the wet roof underlayment and fell off the roof edge. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Construction Industry
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
  • Workplace
• Keywords:
  • Roofers
  • Roofing
  • Roofing and sheet metal work
  • Falls
  • Fall protectionTraining
  • Safety
  • Safety equipment
  • Safety measures
  • Safety practices
  • Hazards
  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:20054886
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-178-2019, 2019 Feb; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: laborer falls 20 feet from scissor lift in fruit cold storage warehouse
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228915/cdc_228915_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 611.67 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bff661a6ba6e13a5af0482e32c5cfc26954ad1f409b484bf8127803d091b0737949325832ba67048310184a5c7d238169c881cee2d7636c8c1b38d08cdc8fc10