Construction Fatality Narrative: Laborer Climbing Scaffold Cross Braces Falls 25 Feet [2022-08]

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  SUMMARY: A 42-year-old construction laborer was fatally injured when he was climbing the cross braces of a scaffold and fell 25 feet. The laborer had worked for his employer, a construction contractor, for five months. He had worked for two months at the incident site where a condominium complex was being remodeled. He was new to the trade and had only received informal on-the-job training. On the day of the incident, the laborer and two other workers were preparing to work on the building's exterior balconies. A multilevel supported scaffold allowed the workers to access and work on the building exterior. Ladders and safety hatches installed on the inside of the scaffold walking platforms allowed workers to access all levels of the scaffold. Using the scaffold's interior ladders, they were bringing tools up to balcony decks on the third and fourth floor work areas. The laborer did not use the scaffold ladders. Instead, he climbed up the outside of the scaffold using its cross braces in the 12 ½-inch gap between the scaffold and the building exterior. He was not wearing personal fall protection. It was not required because the scaffold was within 14 inches of the work face. He then retrieved a saw from the second floor level and holding it in one hand began climbing the cross braces to the next level. As he reached up to hand the saw to a coworker on a balcony, he slipped and fell through the gap, landing 25 feet below on pavement. REQUIREMENTS: Employers must: 1. Make sure cross braces are not used as a means of access. 2. Enforce the fall protection requirements for scaffolds. 3. Develop a formal accident-prevention program tailored to the needs of the particular plant or operation and to the type of hazard involved. 4. Train employees who work on a scaffold. RECOMMENDATIONS: FACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences: 1. Train workers to never climb on or use scaffold cross braces as a means of access. 2. Assess fall hazards and the need for personal fall protection, even when it is not required. 3. Add scaffold side brackets and planks just below each level of decks to prevent workers from accessing or falling through the gap between building and scaffold. 4. Provide one dedicated access point to each deck from the scaffold. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction Fall Protection Falls Safety Education Safety Equipment Scaffolds Workers Worker Safety
• 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:20065939
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-226-2022, 2022 Aug; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Construction fatality narrative: laborer climbing scaffold cross braces falls 25 feet
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0db75ceba035c21f99b5aa619fe1e52e967a9fbacb78e3bbb1dbe7a3b19ebc4d2326421dde4348010efe856314eb9639d353e1da9bd3394d1bdb69841bd296a3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229126/cdc_229126_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 293.85 KB ]