UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Some employees were assigned to lower and dismantle a wood soffit platform and supports, which had been erected to form concrete stem walls, a road deck for a ramp, and the main line at a span. To complete their part of the work, two carpenters were to scrape clean and cut openings in the plywood soffit. The employees made an error in judgment as to where on the soffit the fourth of four openings was to be made. Consequently, they were working in an area not completely supported by the 3-in. by 6-in. wood joists. After his coworker had scraped the plywood clean, Employee #1 made a cut with a gasoline-driven chainsaw across the 4-foot width of a 4-ft by 8-ft by 0.625-in. sheet of plywood, approximately 3 feet from the stem wall. This was the first of two cuts he intended to make for an opening under a lowering hole in the concrete road deck above. The purpose of this opening was to accommodate soffit-lowering equipment. The second cut was to be closer to the stem wall. At that time, the plywood stayed in place because of its tight fit in the soffit. However, this cut removed the support for the plywood, and, when employee #1 walked on it, it gave way. He fell 26 feet to the ground and was killed.