Abstract: At approximately 12:30 p.m. on March 9, 2001, Employee #1, a carpenter with 10 years of experience with Southwest Construction in Sunland, CA, was on the second level of a structure, moving ceiling joists into position atop a wall in preparation for installing them. He and a coworker were walking on an 8 1/2 in. by 11 1/2 in. wide truss while carrying an approximately 99 lb, 26 ft by 3 1/2 in. joist when he lost his balance and fell 10 1/2 ft onto a wooden floor. He sustained a radial hip fracture, a fractured left elbow, and a fractured T12 vertebra. He was transported to Verdugo Hill Hospital, where he was treated until his discharge at 3:00 p.m. on March 11, 2001. Because of Employee #1's experience, the supervisor did not assign anyone to provide adequate risk control while the work was being done. Employee #1 was not wearing any form of fall protection and there were no direct witnesses to the incident. The cause of the accident was determined to be the inadequate width of the working surface, which resulted in Employee #1 losing his balance.