Abstract: At 12:00 noon on August 26, 2004, Employee #1, a project superintendent for Allgire General Contractors, was walking up a partially completed stairway on a wood framed two story residential structure in Carlsbad, California. He fell 16 feet to the ground and was injured. Employee #1 said he was trying to gain access to the top floor of the structure to assess the need for guardrails, when the accident occurred. Employee #1 was walking up a section of a stairway that had no treads installed by stepping on the three-inch wide metal tread support clips that were welded to the stair stringers. There was no railing in place yet on the stairway. He lost his balance and fell over the outside edge of the structure to the ground 16 feet below to bare soil littered with debris. He struck a wooden box, which cushioned his fall. A carpenter was on the stair platform, installing the last treads to the stairway when the superintendent fell. Employee #1's fractured his shoulder, collarbone and ribs. He remained in the hospital for one month due to staphylococcal pneumonia. Employee #1 had a respiratory infection and had been dizzy at work on the day of the accident.