Abstract: At approximately 12:45 p.m. on March 5, 2004, Employee #1, a carpenter working for a framing contractor, was working on the flat deck above the garage at the rear of a house under construction. The deck involved had 4-in. by 4-in. vertical posts around the perimeter with top rails and mid-rails. Employee #1 was measuring the space left by a missing piece of exterior shear plate on the north wall of the garage. To accomplish this measurement, Employee #1 had knelt down and leaned over the edge at the deck's northeast corner. After taking the measurement, Employee #1 attempted to bring himself back to a normal kneeling position by pushing against the mid-rail that ran along the north side of the deck. Instead, the mid-rail fell away, and Employee #1 fell approximately 23 ft, 4 in. to a concrete walkway. The 2-in. by 4-in. mid-rail had been fastened to the outside of the vertical posts with 8-penny nails. Employee #1 was not been using any form of fall protection or safety net. Employee #1 suffered fractures of the left shoulder, left elbow, left and right wrists, left thumb, right ring, index and middle fingers, skull fracture, right hip dislocation, chipped teeth, and torn left thumb tendon. Employee #1 was hospitalized.