Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1452574.015 - Aurora Metal Systems, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Denver Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:07 a.m. on December 16, 2019, an employee working for a roofing contractor on a residential project was working on a roof. The employee was utilizing a personal fall arrest system (PFAS) which included a harness connected to a rope-grab. The rope-grab was designed to slide along a rope-lifeline which was connected to a standard roof anchor. The employee lost his footing and began sliding down the roof to the edge where he subsequently fell to the ground below. It was determined that the locking snap hook on the lifeline unintentionally disengaged from the anchor to which it was connected to. The locking snap hook was determined to be compatible with the anchor, but there was a manufacturer defect in the lifeline. The lifeline manufacturer connected one end of the lifeline/rope to a locking snap hook via a metal eyelet. The eyelet was large and could be rotated in such a way where it contacted one of the two latches of the snap hook. With one latch depressed the other latch opened due to a side load that was caused from the anchor. This caused the lifeline to detach from the anchor, thus causing the fall protection system to fail. The employee sustained multiple fractures to his legs and hands and was hospitalized.

Keywords: Anchor, Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Construction, Contusion, Defect, Defective, Defective Equipment, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Hand, Harness, Inexperience, Insufficient Supervision, Lack of Work Procedures, Leading Edge, Leg, Lifeline, Residential Construction, Roof, Roofer, Rope, Safety Latch, Snaphook Rollout