Toolbox Talk Guide: Home Construction Worker Falls Down Elevator Shaft

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Program) (OR-FACE)
• Description:
  INSTRUCTIONS: Hold the guide with this side facing you and the other side facing your crew. Then read the story and prevention bullets. Our safety talk today is about a 41-year-old construction worker from another company who fell 23 feet down an elevator shaft and died during the construction of a new home. Some workers had removed the guardrails around the elevator shaft so they could pass joists through it. The victim later fell down the elevator shaft where he was found bleeding from his head. One of the workers called 911, but didn't know the address, which delayed emergency response time and the victim died at the site. Here are some ways we can prevent something like this from happening where we work. Install guardrails, covers, or safety nets to block openings or edges that are over 6 feet above the ground, like unfinished stairwells. Wear a fall arrest system if working near a fall hazard 6 feet off the ground. Know your location so you can give an address or directions to emergency responders if needed. ASK: "Does anyone have more ideas or comments to share?" Pause for discussion. Then see if there are ways to take action. END WITH ACTION PLAN (ideas for what to ask or say). "Are there any unguarded floor openings at our site that we might have missed in safety inspections that could be corrected today?" "Are there other fall hazards we could fix or make less dangerous?" "What do you all do if you need to access a floor opening like this?" Discuss a similar condition at your current site, or your emergency medical plan. Express your commitment to providing fall protection training and gear. Commit to follow-up at the next safety talk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accident Prevention Accidents Construction Industry Disaster Planning Emergencies Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Workers Emergency Preparedness Fall Protection Falls Injury Prevention Safety Education Safety Practices
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  Toolbox Talk
• Publisher:
  Oregon Health & Science University
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Guidance
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20061615
• Citation:
  Portland, OR: Oregon Health & Science University, 2013 Mar; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Public Health Services, Portland, Oregon
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Toolbox talk guide: home construction worker falls down elevator shaft
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bf8c84fcdc1276fd5e67d469b76ad82f7f1edc54f748d2be9a2260b8efe9d7a4e6e2578535df001561a2a3b76eecba58cdc9fef3988335a564d7bdfa79447249
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229077/cdc_229077_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 188.91 KB ]