Abstract: On June 20, 1996, Employee #1, a mechanic, and an apprentice were installing sheet metal panels and track around a concrete pit in a new blower building. While the apprentice was working off a scaffold to level a wall track, a torpedo level fell into the pit. Employee #1 went to retrieve the tool, but he did not have access into the pit. The employer's 10 ft stepladder was already in the pit but was not within arm's reach. Instead of jumping into the pit, Employee #1 balanced himself on a 3 ft 5/8 in. ledge in the pit by placing his arms against the walls of the blower building and the sheet metal enclosure. He had taken about three steps when he missed the ledge and fell 4 ft 10 in. into the pit. He landed head first, sustaining injuries that required hospitalization.