Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Iowa: Sheet Metal Roofer Slips and Falls Through Joint in Ceiling.

摘要

A 20-year-old sheet metal worker, part of a crew constructing a new metal building, died when he fell through a joint in the ceiling panels of the roof, landing on the concrete floor 21 feet below. The man was working on the roof laying down insulation prior to attaching the top layer of metal. While walking on a purlin, he apparently slipped and his foot landed adjacent to the purlin, at an overlapping joint in the sheet metal. The ceiling panel was 29-gauge corrugated steel attached with no. 12 self-tapping screws every 9 inches. Several heads of these screws immediately popped off or tore through the metal, and the man fell through the seam in the metal ceiling. The man was not wearing any fall-protective equipment and suffered fatal head and neck injuries. The builder had been constructing this type of building for 15 years, and assumed the ceiling was safe since workers had occasionally stepped on the ceiling without incident. Fall protective equipment was available on site, but workers were not required to use it.