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Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 130610.015 - Roofer falls from roof and suffers spinal fracture

Accident Summary Nr: 130610.015 -- Report ID: 0626600 -- Event Date: 10/19/2020
Inspection NrDate OpenedSICNAICSEstablishment Name
1499056.01510/21/2020238160Esteban Gomez

Abstract: On the morning of October 19, 2020, an employee was working for a roofing contractor. He was a roofer. His employer was working on a new construction project; that is, not a rehab of an existing structure or structures. A development of three-story apartment buildings was going up. The employee, a coworker, and their supervisor were on the roof of building number 6. The workers were 30 feet, 3 in. (9.2 m) up, installing tar paper on the roof. This was the employee's first day working at that site. He wa a day laborer. At approximately 8:00 a.m., the supervisor got off the roof and remained on the ground. As the supervisor was walking to the southern part of the building, it started to rain. The supervisor told everyone to get off the roof. The two workers on the roof begun picking up their equipment. The employee untied himself at the top of the building to walk about 10 feet (3.0 m) to a ladder. When the employee pulled on his air hose, his nail gun got stuck with the hose. The nail gun slipped and started to slide off the roof. The employee tried to stop it with his foot, only to slip himself and end up falling from the roof. He fell 30 feet, 3 in. (9.2 m). He suffered a spinal fracture. He was hospitalized. The workers on the roof had been tied off, but they had to disconnect at the top of the building and grab a rope with their hands to go down, without fall protection, to where the ladder was. The employer had no work rule pertaining to this hazard. The employee was foreign-born. He spoke Spanish, his supervisor spoke Spanish, and the primary language spoken at the work site was Spanish. There was no language barrier.

Keywords: Air Hose, Broken Bone, Construction, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Ladder, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Nail gun, Pneumatic tool , Residential Construction, Roof, Roofer, Safety Device, Slippery Surface, Slope, Sloping, Spine, Supervisor, Temporary, Temporary Worker, Tie-Off, Vertebra, Work Rules, Work at Elevation
Accident Details
End Use Project Type Project Cost Stories Non-building Height Fatality
Other building New project or new addition   3

Employee Details
Employee # Inspection Nr Age Sex Degree of Injury Nature of Injury Occupation Construction
1 1499056.015 42 M Hospitalized injury Roofers Distance of Fall: 30 feet
Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: 30 feet
Cause: Roofing
Fatality Cause:

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