Abstract: Employee #1, a trainee mechanic, and the leadman of the two-man crew were assigned to move a two-point suspended scaffold, "Spider," 5 foot stage with two SC40 hoists. They lowered the scaffold from the top roof 16 feet to a small intermediate roof. The plan was to lower the scaffold an additional 20 feet to the main roof. The two-man crew started to lower the scaffold. After approximately 2 feet, the right side hoist unit stopped. The employees thought that the overspeed brake had accidentally set. The leadman -- the competent person on site --got out of the scaffold onto the roof and worked with Employee #1 to manually override and release the overspeed brake. This was done before the hoist was inspected for sufficient cable length. The right side hoist had only been set up with enough cable to go from the upper roof to the intermediate roof, a total of 16 feet. The total cable length measured 18 feet 5 1/2 inches. When the brake was released, the 3 inches of cable left on the drum ran out and the hoist fell, causing the right side of the scaffold to drop. Employee #1 fell 18 feet and landed on a stored scaffold pick. He sustained a chipped ankle bone and a bruised calf. The company did not conduct a fall protection or competent person inspection. The hoist worked as designed and the wire rope safety device was manually overridden. No safety line or fall protection was used.