NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search
Massachusetts construction worker dies in fall through a roof opening while performing iron work.
Authors
Massachusetts Department of Health
Source
Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 94MA011, 1994 Sep; :1-3
NIOSHTIC No.
20028425
Abstract
On January 31, 1994 a 23 year old, male, construction worker was fatally injured on a Massachusetts construction site when he fell approximately 20 feet through a roof opening to ice covered ground. The victim was not wearing any fall protection. On the day of the incident the victim and his coworkers were positioning and welding metal decking to the structural steel beams. The victim had been pulled off this job, and was capping the roof when he fell through the 3 by 40 square foot opening. Sheet metal workers found the unconscious victim lying on the ground, and yelled for assistance. An iron working coworker immediately sought emergency medical assistance and the victim was airlifted to a hospital where he died the next day of multiple injuries. To prevent future similar occurrences, the FACE Program recommends that employers: 1. Require floor openings to be adequately protected and/or personal protective equipment to be used in the presence of fall hazards; 2. Ensure that fall protection equipment is provided and used by all employees whenever any work is preformed at an elevation where the potential for a serious or fatal fall exists; 3. Design, develop and implement a comprehensive safety program that includes, but is not limited to fall protection.
Keywords
Region-1; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Protective-measures; Personal-protection; Personal-protective-equipment; Protective-equipment; Safety-programs; Construction; Construction-industry; Construction-workers; Roofing-and-sheet-metal-work
Publication Date
19940902
Document Type
Field Studies; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation
Funding Type
Cooperative Agreement
Fiscal Year
1994
Identifying No.
FACE-94MA011; Cooperative-Agreement-Number-U60-CCU-108704
SIC Code
NAICS-23
Source Name
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
State
MA; WV
Performing Organization
Massachusetts Department of Health
Page last reviewed: March 11, 2019
Content source:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Education and Information Division