Abstract: At approximately 7:30 a.m. on September 5, 1988, Employee #1 and coworkers were on a 28 ft high, 8:12 pitched townhouse roof, preparing to cut off the plywood overlap on the east side. He began to nail short 2 by 4 kickplates to the roof to provide footing while they cut the plywood. The plywood was wet from rain the previous night and Employee #1 slipped and slid feet first down the roof and then fell 28 ft to the ground. He was hospitalized with compression fractures of four vertebrae, a fractured right wrist, a concussion, and a bruised kidney. The employee should have started installing his kickplates at the eave so that he would have something to stand on as he worked up toward the top of the roof. There was no catch platform in place, nor was there any fall protection, such as a safety belt and lifeline.