Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) Report: Dry Wall Finisher Dies in Fall from Ladder on Scaffold, June 23, 1988

摘要

The case of a 55-year-old dry wall finisher who died when he fell 22 feet from a portable wooden stepladder on top of a 17-foot high mobile scaffold was examined. The victim was employed by a general contracting construction company. He had almost 4 years of experience as a dry wall finisher. The company had been contracted to build a multilevel brick high school. The victim's work platform was made up of two 2-inch by 10-inch, 7-foot long wooden boards and one 2-foot wide by 7-foot long standard aluminum plank mounted across the top railing of the scaffold. He also placed an 8-foot wooden stepladder on top of the work platform to reach the upper sections of the wall, 25 feet high. The casters on the scaffold were not locked. He leaned the top of the ladder against the wall and proceeded to climb. The force exerted at the ladder's foot caused the scaffold to roll and he fell head first onto a concrete floor 22 feet below. It was recommended that all employees required to work from elevated work platforms understand the potential danger of a fall and the proper methods of securing their equipment. Appropriate guardrails and toeboards should be installed on scaffolding used for work at levels over 10 feet above the ground. Mobile scaffolding platforms should be tightly planked.