Abstract: Employee #1 was descending the ladder leg of a water tower that was being painted when the horizontal flat bar that he was holding onto came loose from the structure. He fell about 85 feet. Employee #1 died of multiple fractures and internal injuries two hours after the fall. No safety belts, ladder climbing devices, or safety nets were in use at the time of the accident. The cause of the fall was the fact that the bolts holding the horizontal flat bar on the leg of the water tower had corroded so badly that there were no nuts holding the flat bar in place. The cause of the fatality was that the employee was not tied off or provided with fall protection.