Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1162106 - Colonial Oil Industries Plant 2

Inspection Information - Office: Savannah Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on June 14, 1984, Employee #1 and three coworkers had been working for about five minutes on the sloped sheetmetal roof of a new steel building that measured 562 ft long by 120 ft wide by 61 ft high (41 ft high at the eaves). They were 99 percent finished laying the sheet metal ridge cap along the 562 ft long peak. At about 8:00 a.m. the employees had been instructed to use their safety belts; it had rained around 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. that morning and the roof was still wet. One coworker, who was using a screw gun, was tied off. Two other coworkers were standing by the peak and talking. Employee #1, who was walking across the roof toward a ladder access, slid down the metal roof and fell 41 ft to the ground. He suffered a compound fracture of the arm, fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and a ruptured liver and died of a fractured skull.

Keywords: SKULL, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, WORK RULES, RIB, FRACTURE, ROOF, CONSTRUCTION, SLIPPERY SURFACE, ARM