Inspection Detail

Inspection: 15099351 - Walt Rohde Construction Co

Inspection Information - Office: Bend

Investigation Summary

At 8:05 a.m. on July 19,1984, Employee #1 was on the roof of the packaging building at the Simploy plant in Hermiston, OR. Newly employed by Walt Rohle Construction Company, this was his first day as a roofer. The foreman had worked with him since 5:00 a.m. on another job at the site. With that finished, they began assisting two roofers who were laying down new 30 ft steel sheets. The foreman stood at one end, demonstrating how to pull up the old 30 ft long roofing material. Employee #1 then went to the opposite end of the 30 ft roof sheet. There was a 30 ft by 30 in. section of exposed insulation to his right, which Employee #1 had been warned about. The foreman pulled at his end then realized Employee #1 was not in sight. Neither the two coworkers, who were 5 ft away, nor the workers below saw Employee #1 fall through the roofing insulation. Employee #1 was semiconscious and his head, nose, and mouth were bleeding when the ambulance arrived. He sustained massive head injuries and died two days later. Employee #1 had spent only 10 minutes on the roof before the accident.

Keywords: HEAD, ROOF, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, INEXPERIENCE, ROOFER, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, INATTENTION