Abstract: At approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 3, 1999, Employee #1, of Gross Graphics, a newspaper printing press manufacturer and installer, and three coworkers were preparing for a newspaper press run. The operation involved threading paper into the press and Employee #1 was standing on the 21 in. wide by 62 1/2 in. long steel diamond plate deck on the second-level catwalk. It was located 69 in. above the first-level steel deck, which was approximately 7 ft above floor level. On two sides of the second-level catwalk deck were 43 in. high steel pipe guardrails, with midrails and toe boards. There was also a fixed, nearly vertical ladder at the north end of the catwalk, between the first and second levels. The 3 ft wide ladder had 13 in. long by 2 1/2 in. wide metal rungs, spaced 12 in. apart. Employee #1 apparently fell from the second deck to the first, where he was found lying unconscious about 3 ft from the ladder by two coworkers who heard a noise and turned around. He suffered fractures to both hands, multiple contusions, and a ruptured spleen. Paramedics were called and Employee #1 was taken to Harbor General Hospital, where he was hospitalized for 12 days and his spleen was surgically removed. It is believed that Employee #1 fell from the unguarded 17 in. wide endspace on the second level where the fixed ladder terminated.