UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At 1:00 p.m. on September 9, 2015, a 20-year-old male employed by a window clean ing services company fell approximately 58.8 feet to the ground. The employee w as performing drop work by cleaning exterior windows of a senior living commerci al property. The employee was descending from the Rooftop Rigger and was attach ed to a safety life line and descent device. The employee had just moved the Ro oftop Rigger to a new location in order to clean another row of windows. The Ro oftop Rigger was not tied back to a separate anchor point. The counterweights w ere not utilized prior to the employee going over the edge. A co-worker was wor king on the row of windows next to the employee, and had briefly seen a glimpse of the top of the roof rigger while cleaning windows. The co-worker then notice d when the employee went to sit in the boatswain's chair, the tip of the roof ri gger bent down farther than normal and eventually fell over the side of the buil ding. The employee was able to hold on to the roof edge for a brief period of t ime before being catapulted to the ground. The employee was transported to a lo cal hospital where he was later pronounced dead. He sustained blunt force injuri es of the neck.