FACE Facts: Two Construction Workers Fall to Their Death Through Temporary Wooden Bridge Platforms

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  New Jersey. Department of Health
• Description:
  Case #1: A 26-yr-old construction laborer fell through a temporary wooden "catch platform" 75 feet to the ground during a bridge renovation project. The victim stepped down from a steel structural I-beam onto one of the wooden planks, which broke under his weight. Case #2: An ironworker fell through wooden boards of a temporary walkway at a construction site. The victim was carrying lumber on a bridge deck during a resurfacing job. The planks he was walking on gave way, and he fell 96 feet and struck a concrete barrier on the ground. He was 45-yr old. What Can Be Done to Prevent This from Happening Again: Conduct a job hazard analysis and put into place a safety and health plan where workers are assigned tasks. Provide fall protection equipment to all employees working at heights of 6 feet or greater. Use wooden planks or other structures for temporary work platforms that are made of materials that can support at least four times the maximum intended weight, as required by OSHA. Design and install individual planks so that shifting does not occur. Designate a person to actively survey the planks and promptly replace those that are damaged. Clearly mark surfaces that are not designed for worker access to prevent entry. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidental Falls
  • Accidents
  • Construction Industry
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Construction workers
  • Falls
  • Walking surfaces
  • Fall protection
  • Accident prevention
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067629
• Citation:
  Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Department of Health, 2014 May; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  FACE facts: two construction workers fall to their death through temporary wooden bridge platforms
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229187/cdc_229187_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 661.07 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:90cc81f57dd4c301640ccc7080824b677b65ea1a54d53bf2cf4b5e0b96290a03181e752501960b61d53e0d44b02ebbdddebd70c28d2408b2e89092029450aa75