Construction Injury Narrative: Laborer Falls 24 Feet from Roof Deck [2020]

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 31-year-old laborer was severely injured when he fell 24 feet from a roof deck, landing on concrete. He was using a personal fall arrest system, but he had not adjusted the rope grab and there was too much slack in his lifeline. The laborer was employed by a framing contractor. He had worked for the employer for two years. On the day of the incident, the laborer was working on the construction of a new school gymnasium. Shortly after 7 a.m. on a cold winter morning, he went on to the partially sheathed plywood roof deck to prepare it for more sheathing installation. The roof deck was covered with frost. His first task was to use a propane burner torch to melt the frost and dry the deck so that workers could safely work without slipping on the 8/12 pitch roof. He was wearing a full-body harness with a lanyard and a rope grab attached to a lifeline that was tied-off to a roof anchor point. Using the torch, he worked his way up the roof. As he did this, he slipped on frost and slid about 20 feet down the roof. He attempted to arrest his fall by grabbing a roof truss but was unable to. Believing the rope grab on his lifeline would arrest his fall, he did not attempt to hold on to the rope. He slid over the roof's leading edge and fell 24 feet, landing on a concrete floor. He suffered fractures to his thigh, heel, and wrists. Investigators found that the laborer had not adjusted his rope grab short enough on the lifeline to arrest his fall. After the incident, the rope grab resting on the floor had two feet of slack between it and the vertical section of lifeline. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Construction Industry
  • Mortality
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Safety Management
• Keywords:
  • Fatalities
  • Injuries
  • Injury prevention
  • Traumatic injuries
  • Safety
  • Safety measures
  • Safety practices
  • Safety monitoring
  • Hazards
  • Construction
  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:20059195
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-193-2020, 2020 Apr; :1
• Contact Point Address:
  Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Construction injury narrative: laborer falls 24 feet from roof deck
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228941/cdc_228941_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 299.67 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aee6a66ce9d4d2be6b867ce3bc2d72187589a9d0af4cd3b5120d529ee10ae3536379ecba6ed13d0463984c7f4bca4f0be1715f6f1e8b95af00a5844ec993eac8