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 93WY021, 1994 Apr; :1-4
A 54 year old roofer died from injuries suffered when he fell while working with four co-workers in applying a coating material to the roof of an 18' building at a mine site. The victim was a member of a four person crew that was applying a liquid roofing product to the sloping metal roof of a building at a mine site. He was one of two workers that were using rollers to press the liquid into metal seams by backing down the slope of the roof from the peak to the roof edge. No tie-downs or roof railing was available or in use. The victim had been involved in a discussion with his supervisor about the procedure of applying the material, and was telling a co-worker what he considered to be the procedure as he worked. While working backwards and talking about the procedure, the backed off the roof and fell to the ground. The victim was transported by air ambulance to a hospital some 60 miles from the incident site. He was conscious and oriented from the time co-workers reached him at the site through arrival at the hospital emergency room. He was treated for multiple injuries received from the fall, and had been through multiple surgeries to repair damage received in the fall. He was in surgery two weeks after the incident occurred, when he developed a bradycardia which went on to cardiac arrest. Full resuscitation was instituted immediately and continued for 1 1/2hours. He was pronounced dead in the operating room. Employers may be able to minimize the potential for occurrence of this type of incident through the following precautions: 1. Whenever workers are involved in high level work duty they should be protected by tie-downs or roof-railing to protect them from dangerous falls.
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