Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1499831.015 - Homer Iron Works, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Wilkes Barre Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:45 a.m. on October 22, 2020, a 21-year-old employee was working as a construction laborer for a structural steel and precast concrete contractor. The employer had been contracted to install a new water tank inside an industrial building at a lumberyard. The project required removal of a portion of the metal roof. This was the employee's first day on the job. He had been hired as a welder. A member of the welding crew, he had arrived onsite early and went to the foreman looking for something to do. The foreman directed him the assist with the roof removal. He was working about 20 feet (6.1 m) up. He had been working with his foreman on the roof for about three hours, removing sheet metal roofing. The employee was walking on the roof, when he stepped onto a small section of the surface that had no supporting structure. He stepped upon hardboard insulation instead of the metal sheathing of the roof. The insulation did not support his weight. The employee fell through the opening approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) onto the concrete floor below. He suffered fractures to his wrist and back. He was hospitalized. When the employer bid the job, it was aware that employees would be working on the roof and exposed to a fall hazard. Prior to arriving onsite, the foreman was under the impression that the roof height was less than 15 feet (4.6 m) above the lower level. He added that the firm normally performed steel erection work, which fell under different OSHA requirements. He also indicated that he did not have fall protection equipment onsite and that this project was a rush job. The employee said that the workers did not use or discuss using fall protection on the project before the incident. The employer did not report the in-patient hospitalization to the OSHA area office nearest to the site of the incident. On October 23, 2020, the day after the incident, the employer called another office to report the hospitalization.

Keywords: Back, Broken Bone, Construction, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Inexperience, Reporting, Roof, Roofing, Unstable Surface, Walking Surface, Welder, Work at Elevation, Wrist