Abstract: At approximately 10:00 a.m. on December 13, 1990, Employee #1 and a coworker were installing drywall above the ceiling of a 30-year-old single-story building on a tenant improvement project. As a work platform, they were using 12 ft long 2 by 10 wooden planks laid across the 4 by 6 ceiling joist. Employee #1 wanted to go to one end of the platform and had to move around another coworker. In the process, Employee #1 side-stepped onto a ceiling joist which gave way and broke, causing him to fall approximately 11 feet onto the concrete floor. Employee #1 was hospitalized with a fractured L1 spinal vertebra. Subsequent investigation determined that the employer failed to provide the required standard railings.