Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1492185.015 - Century Commercial Service

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

At 12:26 p.m. on September 10, 2020, an employee, a field lighting installation technician, along with his coworker were at an unoccupied commercial building for a lighting replacement project. The site was a one-story structure that measured approximately 40 feet in height from the polished concrete ground to ceiling. The employees were tasked with replacing the old halogen lamps and fluorescent ballast lighting units with new LED lights on the ceiling. It was the second day of work at the worksite. The employee and the coworker had lowered themselves from their respective Skyjack aerial scissor lifts to the ground, removed their personal safety harnesses, and were getting ready to head to lunch. The coworker was putting his harness inside the company van parked inside the structure, when he heard the employee climb back up into the aerial lift and elevated himself up to the new lighting that he had just installed. The employee yelled out in pain and then curled up and fell forward from one end of the elevated platform to the gap below the top guardrail and a metal chain which was not connected. The employee turned as he fell and landed face first on his forehead and knees. The coworker called for emergency services, but the employee was pronounced dead at the scene of fatal head trauma and fractures.

Keywords: Blunt force trauma, Elevated Work Plat, Fall, Fall Protection, Fracture, Head, Scissor lift