Abstract: On October 21, 1988, Employee #1 was setting an 8 in. center support steel I-beam in a basement-level apartment that was being added to an existing home. The I-beam was to support the ceiling. Employee #1 and two coworkers, one of whom was president of the company, were inside the addition while another coworker was in the front of the addition operating a Ford 500 model DF211F front end loader and backhoe. The I-beam was chained to hooks on the front end loader bucket and lowered atop the west wall of the lolly column at the west end, 7 ft 6 in. above the floor. While the employees within were preparing to put the final bracing on the I-beam, the equipment operator stepped off. When he stepped back onto the loader/backhoe, he caused it to lunge forward. Consequently the chains went slack and the I-beam slipped off, striking Employee #1 on the head. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a concussion and released. The employees were neither provided with nor wearing hard hats. The equipment operator had not been trained in the recognition and avoidance of hazards to his work environment. The employer had no established safety and health rules. Employees were not made aware of their rights to a safe and healthy place of employment.