Abstract: On October 11, 1985, two employees for Baltimore Wrecking Corporation were working on demolishing a stairway. Employee #1 was banging through the stairway tread pans with a sledge hammer. Employee #2 was breaking the tread concrete with an air jack hammer. The stairway broke away from the runner beam on the south wall at the third floor level. The employees fell 22 feet to the first floor. One employee was hospitalized with a fracture. The other employee sustained a fracture but was not hospitalized. The stairway was not shored or supported. The employees did not wear safety belts, lanyards with life lines, or fall restraint devices.