Inspection Detail

Inspection: 111146361 - G. J. Hopkins Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Nc Department Of Labor - Raleigh

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:55 a.m. on June 23, 1993, Employee #1, an electrician's helper, was standing on an 8 ft fiberglass stepladder, waiting to feed wire to the electrician. The electrician, on a scaffold 30 to 35 ft above the floor, was to drop the end of a rope down to Employee #1, who would tie the wire to the rope, which the electrician would then pull up. The electrician had earlier instructed Employee #1 to go get a wire stand to put the 3 spools of wire on. Instead, Employee #1 had hung the spools of wire on 2 pieces of conduit run between the steps of the ladder and the supports (bracing) at the back. The spools weigh 60 3/4 lb each and Employee #1 weighs approximately 160 lb. The ladder was rated for 300 lb. The back leg of the ladder broke and Employee #1 fell, hitting his head on a spool of wire. Employee #1 was hospitalized from June 23, 1993 until August 4, 1993. There were no instructions given to Employee #1 to use the ladder, and the method the employees were using to transfer the wire was an acceptable one and could have been used without Employee #1 stepping on the ladder, thereby overloading its weight capacity. In addition, the ladder was being used for a purpose for which it was not intended.

Keywords: HEAD, STEPLADDER, WORK RULES, LADDER, OVERLOADED, STRUCK AGAINST, CONSTRUCTION, FALL