Fatality Narrative: Roofing Foreman Falls 19 Feet from Extension Ladder

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 43-year-old roofing foreman died when he fell 19 feet from an extension ladder. The foreman worked for a roofing contractor who occasionally did siding repair. He had overseen the company's projects for five years. The foreman and a company roofer were replacing siding on the wood chimney chase of a two-story house. The roofer used a 24-foot extension ladder to access the roof at the rear of the house. The foreman then moved the ladder to the side of the house. He planned to place a fascia board on the upper part of the chase while standing on the ladder, with the roofers help. To do this he placed the base of the ladder between two raised garden beds and leaned the ladder against the chimney chase. This created a 65-degree angle, lower than a safe 75-degree angle. The ladder would have been nearly vertical if he had placed it on the other side of the garden bed. He did not secure the ladder from movement at the bottom, or secure it at the top once he climbed up it. The roofer questioned him about the safety of the ladder setup, but the foreman replied it would be okay because the job would not take long. From the roof, the roofer helped the foreman hold the board in place. The board was about 25 feet above the ground. Standing either on the second or third rung from the top of the ladder, the foreman used a drill to put a screw into the board. As he leaned to his right to put in another screw, the ladder slid sideways and he fell with it, landing 19 feet below on a concrete walkway. He died from multiple blunt force injuries. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Construction Industry
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Ladders
  • Falls
  • Roofing
  • Roofing and sheet metal work
  • Safety
  • Fall protection
  • Safety measures
  • Safety equipment
• 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:20057023
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-185-2019, 2019 Aug; :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: roofing foreman falls 19 feet from extension ladder
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228922/cdc_228922_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 630.13 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:32710e5fc8fa9cc8ab01e61768a9119ac7f81c87c0de3ad9b885fb9f34d02d1b698c66abc4cedb689027c3ab0b35ee4d391fa9ffcd8e6d53a1d4a40a9b4ffa34