Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120271234 - Saturn Electric

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 7:00 a.m. on March 15, 1999, Employee #1, an apprentice electrician, and a more experienced apprentice were pulling wiring on the first floor of a building. They noticed that a coworker two floors above them was using an unsafe plank walkway to span the 10 ft space between the open floors of the building they were in and the adjacent building. After alerting the third-floor coworker of the hazard, the more experienced apprentice told Employee #1 to remove the 14 ft long, 2 by 8 planks from between the buildings. He pulled the first plank toward himself by sliding it along the lower plank. Employee #1 then removed the nails holding the second plank and began to pull it off the sill of the opposite building. He could not control it and the plank dropped between the buildings. Employee #1 lost his balance and fell, head first, 18 ft off the side of the open third floor to the ground. As he dropped, his right wrist struck against the wall of the opposite building. This changed the orientation of his body and resulted in him landing feet first. Employee #1 sustained a fractured left heel, compression fractures of his vertebrae, and a fractured right wrist. Coworkers came immediately to his aid and called 911. The paramedics arrived within 15 minutes and transported him to a local trauma center. The employer was issued a citation for a general violation of T8CCR 1670(a), for not providing fall protection. It was a general citation because employer knowledge could not be established of the task being performed by Employee #1 at the time of the accident.

Keywords: FRACTURE, WORK RULES, ELECTRICIAN, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, LOST BALANCE, VERTEBRA, OPEN-SIDED FLOOR, UNSTABLE POSITION