Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312693690 - St. John The Evangelist Church

Inspection Information - Office: San Francisco District Office

Investigation Summary

On August 2, 2012, Employee #1 was working as a Janitorial Worker at the rectory of the St. John the Evangelist Church. The building is over 100 years old. The exterior stairway is approximately 58 inches above the ground and consisted of 11 steps (risers). There are two columns on the third and fourth top steps. The stair railing/handrail is not continuous the full length of the stairway due to the presence of the columns and the lack of handrails along the wall on one side of the top landing, and along the two columns. At approximately 4:45 p.m., Employee #1 was taking out the garbage in two plastic bags and was walking down the stairway when she apparently lost her balance and fell six or seven steps. Employee #1 landed on the concrete pavement at the base of the stairway. The cause of the accident could not be ascertained but was possibly due to failure to use or the lack of a stair railing/handrail. Employee #1 suffered head trauma including a subarachnoid hemorrhage, multiple rib fractures (right anterior 2-4 and left anterior lateral 2-7), a left punctured lung, and spinal fractures (C-7, T-1 & T-2 transverse process fractures). Employee #1 was hospitalized for several days and then was transferred to a nursing home.

Keywords: JANITOR, FRACTURE, HEAD, LUNG, STAIR, SPINE, HANDRAIL, RIB, FALL, LOST BALANCE