Abstract: Employee #1 and a foreman were working on a second floor landing of a two-story single family home. They were installing Romex cable throughout the house. The second floor landing was 3 ft 11 in. wide by 7 ft 5 in. long and 9 ft from the first floor landing. A 7 ft 5 in. long open side of the landing was not provided with a guardrail. Employee #1 was pulling the Romex cable to light and fire detector junction boxes directly above the landing. His stepladder was positioned about 2 ft from the open side of the landing. While descending the stepladder, he stepped backward and fell from the open side of the landing, 9 ft to the first floor landing. Employee #1 sustained two broken vertebrae and internal injuries. The foreman was trained and aware of a company work rule not to work on landings without a guardrail. Employee #1 was never trained and, therefore, unaware of the work rule.