Abstract: At about 12:00 noon on July 1, 1985, Employee #1 and his foreman were sandblasting the inside of a one million gallon water tower, a job they had started around 9:00 a.m. The whirly jig suspended chair suddenly dropped a few feet and Employee #1 was thrown out of the chair, falling approximately 20 ft to the floor of the tank. He suffered multiple fractures to his back, left foot, and ankle. A rope across the front of the chair had been used as a safety device. Employee #1 stated that he had been using this homemade rigging device for two weeks prior to the accident, and that it was tested every morning to ensure that it was working properly. It is not known why the chair suddenly dropped a short distance.