Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) Report: Ironworker Foreman Dies Following a 37-Foot Fall through Platform Opening in Indiana, September 12, 1989.

摘要

The case of a 46 year old male ironworker foreman who fell to his death from an industrial building platform was examined. The employer was an industrial building construction company with 1500 workers. The victim had been employed for 10 years as an ironworker and had been with the company for 12 months as a foreman. The foreman and his crew of four workers were installing foundry process equipment from the platform. An 8 foot diameter vent stack ran vertically through the platform. A 12 inch annular space had been left between the vent stack and the platform grating so that insulation material could be placed around the vent stack. The foreman was standing about 1 foot from the annular space with his back to the vent giving work instructions to the crew. Upon completing the instructions, he stepped backwards and fell 37 feet. He died 1 hour later at a local hospital. The cause of death was a skull fracture. It was recommended that platform and floor openings large enough for workers to fall through be adequately guarded and that hazard analysis should be included as an ongoing part of each construction phase.