Washington FACE Report: Glazier Foreman Falls From Stepladder
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program Reports
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program and State FACE Programs study fatal workplace injuries and prepare reports with recommendations to prevent similar injuries. The following are links to all of the items in this collection:
Documents
- Kentucky FACE Report: Commercial Roofer Falls 30 Feet Through a Skylight While Installing Roof Insulation
- Fatal Occupational Injuries in Massachusetts 2008-2013
- Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
- Washington FACE Report: Glazier Foreman Falls From Stepladder
- Preventing Construction Falls Toolkit
- Hazard Alert: Pedestrian Workers Killed by Forklifts
- Keep Employees in Motor Vehicles Safe
- New York FACE Brochure
- Washington FACE Report: Construction Laborer Falls When Ladder Breaks
- Washington FACE Report: Pipelayer Dies when Trench Wall Collapses
- Washington FACE Report: Carpenter Falls 60 Feet from Bridge Concrete Form
- Washington FACE Report: Foreman and Laborer Fall when Aerial Lift Struck by Vehicle
- Washington FACE Report: Framer Falls 18 Feet while Sheathing Roof
- New York FACE Report: Mechanic Electrocuted when a Mobile Light Tower Contacted Powerline
- New York FACE Report: Two Construction Workers Fatally Crushed when Cement Formwork Collapsed
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Laborer Killed in Trench Collapse while Taking Grade Measurements
- California FACE Report: A Heating, Ventilaton and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Contractor Dies when He Falls through a Skylight
- Massachusetts FACE Report: Carpenter Fatally Injured after Falling from an Extension Ladder
- Massachusetts FACE Report: Laborer Fatally Injured after Falling from a Home under Construction
- Oregon FACE Report: Worker Falls When Ladder Slips
- Michigan FACE Information Sheet: Look for Mobile Equipment Blind Spots
- Oregon FACE Report: Collapsed roof trusses kill carpenter foreman
- Washington FACE Report: Roofer Falls 19 Feet from Roof
- Hazard Alert: Plan. Provide. Train. Prevent Fall Injuries & Deaths
- Kentucky FACE Report: 19-Year-Old Construction Laborer Crushed in Trench Collapse While Laying Sewage Pipe
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Flagger Struck and Killed in Two-Lane Highway Work Zone
- Kentucky FACE Report:Temporary Electrician Helper Steps into Unguarded Elevator Shaft and Dies
- Fatality Narrative: Roofing Contractor Falls 25 Feet From Church Roof
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Siding Subcontractor Installer Killed when Oversized Scaffolding Platform Destabilized and Telescopic Forklift Overturned
- NIOSH FACE Report - Maintenance Worker Struck by Forklift Carriage—Tennessee
- Kentucky Hazard Alert: Roofing and Construction Workers Killed Due to High Winds
- Poster: Secure it to move it!
- Oregon FACE Report: Crane Operator Killed By Falling Steel Beam
- New Jersey FACE Report: Mechanic Dies After Being Crushed Under Electrical Cabinet
- New Jersey FACE Report: Plant Manager Crushed to Death Under Fallen Pile of Steel Beams
- NIOSH FACE Report: Hispanic worker falls from residential roof
- Oregon FACE Report: Construction worker died after falling 20-25 feet from a pump-jack scaffold
- FACE Fact Sheet: Prevent Construction Falls from Roofs, Ladders, and Scaffolds
- Construction Fatality Narrative: Roofer Falls 18 Feet from Wet House Roof
- Construction Worker Killed when Trench Collapsed, Oregon
- A Tree Trimmer is Electrocuted While Trimming a Palm Tree
- A Tree Feller Dies When Struck By a Tree Limb While Felling a Fire-Damaged Tree
- Concrete Finisher Electrocuted When Bull Float Contacted an Energized Power Line
- Warehouse Worker Crushed by Forks of Laser Guided Vehicle
Summary Statement
In December of 2015, a 58-year-old glazier foreman died of injuries after falling from a stepladder.
August 2, 2016
Photo 1. Incident scene showing the 8-foot stepladder from
which the victim fell over the wall into a stairwell
below.
Industry: Glass and Glazing Contractors
Task: Installing window
Occupation: Glazier foreman
Type of Incident: Fall from ladder
Incident Date: December 2, 2015
Release Date: August 02, 2016
SHARP Report No.: 71-149-2016
In December of 2015, a 58-year-old glazier foreman died of injuries after falling from a stepladder.
The victim was employed by a glass and glazing contractor where he had worked for 30 years. His employer was subcontracted to install windows at a hospital. He was a foreman at the site overseeing two crew members.
The day prior to the incident, an employee of the site general contractor informed the victim that one of his crew was using a stepladder improperly by standing on its top step with the ladder propped against a building in the closed position. On the day of the incident, members of the general contractor’s crew saw the victim propping a stepladder over and across a stairwell, with the foot of the ladder placed against the outside railing and the top of the ladder leaning on a wall above the stairwell. They told him not to use the ladder like that. The victim was trying to reach a portion of the window located over the stairwell in order to finish removing tape that had been used when caulking was applied. He moved the ladder to the other side of the half wall above the stairwell and then placed the 8-foot stepladder against the building in its closed position.
No one observed what happened next, but ten minutes later the two employees who had warned him about the ladder found him seriously hurt at the bottom of the stairwell, where he had apparently fallen from the ladder. He had fallen 12 feet 8 inches.
He was taken to a hospital with injuries to his spine and head. He died of his injuries six days later.
Photo 2. Incident scene showing the stairwell into which
the
victim fell 12 feet 8 inches from the ladder.
REQUIREMENTS
- Develop a formal accident prevention program that is tailored to address hazards associated with the employer’s operations. See WAC 296-155-110(2)
- Have a competent person train employees to recognize ladder hazards and the procedures to minimize these hazards and retrain as necessary. (For example, after learning to recognize ladder fall hazards, employees should be able to select the correct ladder for the job task.) See WAC 296-876-15005
- Make sure self-supporting ladders are not used as single ladders or in the partially closed position. See WAC 296-876-40050(1)
- Conduct walk-around safety inspections. See WAC 296-155-110(9)
RECOMMENDATION
- Pre-plan job tasks that require working at height so that they may be accomplished in the safest manner.
- Consider, if appropriate, using aerial lifts, elevating work platforms, or scaffolds instead of ladders.
- Create and enforce a policy addressing ladder safety issues.
- When using a ladder keep your body within the side rails. Do not lean or overreach, as this may cause you to overbalance and fall sideways off the ladder or pull the ladder sideways.
RESOURCES
Ladder Safety, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Ladder Safety, WA L&I
Photo 3. Worker using a stepladder improperly by
standing on its top step with the ladder propped
against the building in its closed position.
This bulletin was developed to alert employers and employees of a tragic loss of life of a worker in Washington State and is based on preliminary data ONLY and does not represent final determinations regarding the nature of the incident or conclusions regarding the cause of the fatality.
Developed by Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries. The FACE Program is supported in part by a grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH grant# 2U60OH008487-11). For more information, contact the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, 1-888-667-4277, or visit http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Research/FACE/
