Abstract: At approximately 11:30 a.m. on June 11, 1999, Employee #1, a 19-year-old pre-apprentice pipefitter for Airco Mechanical, Inc., was sent to the second level of a building to place a washer and nuts on the end of a pipe hanger being pushed through the floor. No other workers were in the area, and he went to the edge of the floor to spot where the hanger was going to be pushed through. Employee #1 put his hand on the cable railing and was leaning over it when the railing broke loose and he fell 15 ft to the floor. He suffered a fractured ankle, elbow, knee, and hip, and a back injury. Employee #1 was administered first aid by local fire department paramedics before being transported by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center. A metal decking crew had been placing vertical decking on the second floor for a fire wall; in the process, they removed the 3/8 in. diameter cable railings from the perimeter and then reattached them as the next section was removed. The cable railing had not been properly reattached to the support column in the location where Employee #1 fell.