Abstract: On September 22, 2004, Employee #1, a contract employee, was hired by the on-site employer to install the new synthetic geotextile liner system for a landfill's new cell-Phase IV-B Part 1. He and coworkers were using rope access equipment (i.e., rope ladders and rope hand lines) for the installation. The slope of the new cell that the employees were working on varied; according to the facility's representatives, it ranged from 1.5:1 to 1:1. The length of the slope was approximately 150 to 200 ft. The anchorages for the rope ladders and the rope hand lines used by the employees consisted of 18-in. stakes driven into the ground. On the day of the accident, the field supervisor reported that four of the employer's employees were on one of the rope ladders. The employees were working to adjust the liner when the stake that was anchoring the ladder pulled out of the ground. Employee #1 fell approximately 45 ft down the slope of the landfill. He was hospitalized at Holy Cross Hospital for treatment of a sprain. Following interviews with the injured employee and the field supervisor, it was determined that the employees on the ladder were not using a safety, secondary, belay, or backup line, or other appropriate fall-arrest devices. In addition, the supervisor reports that the ladder was field made by one of the company's employees. The accident was caused by the failure of the anchorage for the rope ladder and the lack of fall protection for the employee.