Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125618694 - 180 Connect Dba Ironwood Communications

Inspection Information - Office: San Francisco District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on January 29, 2006, Employee #1, who had been in the field for only one week as a satellite dish installer, was preparing to set up a standard (small) satellite dish on the approximately 20-1/2 ft high flat roof of a two-story house in a hilly neighborhood. Employee #1 fully extended his Werner, model D6228, type 1A, 28 ft fiberglass ladder, and chose a relatively flat area on the concrete sidewalk near the front door to set it up. He ascended the ladder to evaluate the condition of the roof, and to find an appropriate place to install the dish. He was about halfway up the building and had reached the overlapped ladder rungs when he noticed that the ladder had started falling downhill, to his right. He fell onto the concrete sidewalk with one foot trapped in the rungs of the ladder. Employee #1 managed to get to his van, which was parked nearby, and call his supervisor. At approximately 3:00 p.m., the supervisor and a coworker arrived at the scene of the accident. The supervisor transported Employee #1 to UCSF Medical Center, and the coworker took the damaged ladder and the van back to the main office in Hayward, CA. Employee #1 suffered a fractured tibia plateau and torn meniscus on his left leg and a sprained right ankle. He was transferred to San Francisco General Hospital on February 1, where he underwent surgery to immobilize his leg and knee, and then had open surgery the next day. He was discharged from the hospital on February 10. On August 15, Employee #1 underwent another surgery to remove the screws and metal pieces from his left knee, which had been causing him pain. The cause of the accident was failure to secure the ladder on an inclined surface by using ladder leveler/equalizer or other means. The employer was cited with an accident-related violation, serious, of T8CCR 8608, which requires employers to ensure that no employee, material, or equipment is supported on any portion of a ladder unless a qualified person first inspects it and determines that it is adequately strong, in good condition, and properly secured in place. The ladder was not equipped with a leveler or equalizer and Employee #1 was alone, with no other field person available to secure the ladder.

Keywords: FRACTURE, EXTENSION LADDER, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, SLOPE, LEG, OVERTURN, UNSTABLE POSITION