Abstract: At approximately 9:15 a.m. on September 22, 1993, Employee #1 had been instructed to move a pile of 2 by 4s away from the edge of a 2nd floor stairwell opening (76 in. wide by 103 in. long) in a 2-story single family dwelling under construction. He was told to take them to a point north of, and away from, the opening so that the walls could be framed around it. Once in place, the walls would also provide the necessary fall protection. As Employee #1 was a new employee, he had been instructed by the foreman to be especially careful and pay attention to what he was doing to avoid injury. In the process of moving the 2 by 4s, Employee #1 apparently got too close to the opening and either stepped back into it, or lost his balance, and fell 18 ft 8 in. to the basement floor. He suffered a head injury and has no memory of what happened. Two other employees were on the same floor but were doing other things and did not actually witness the incident.