Abstract: Employee #1 and a coworker were dismantling a 1 in. thick plaster ceiling that was supported by metal lathe suspended by #8 tie wires. They would cut an approximately 26 square ft ceiling panel into about 6 square ft sections, each section supported by four tie wires. They would then cut the tie wires with bolt cutters and drop the sections approximately 18 ft to the floor. Employee #1 and the coworker were on the ceiling and had cut one section loose when the section behind the one on which they were kneeling fell. Employee #1 fell head first to the concrete floor, sustaining serious head injuries. He died approximately two weeks later.