Abstract: Employee #1 and two coworkers, all maintenance personnel, were assigned to remove an old section of steam piping. The pipes were suspended from the ceiling about 13 ft above the floor. Employee #1 was standing on a 10 ft tall wooden stepladder to dismantle the pipes by breaking open the couplings and removing 2- and 3-ft lengths. He lowered a 2-ft section to a coworker standing on the floor. Employee #1 then removed a 3 1/2 ft section weighing about 60 to 70 lb. He lost his balance, dropped the section of pipe, and fell head first off the ladder. He fractured his skull and died at the scene. Employee #1 was using both hands to work while he was on the ladder and he was not tied off with a safety belt and lanyard.