Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. OSHA citation items will be posted 30 (thirty) days after the employer receives the citation(s), except in cases of significant public interest. Posted citation items reflect any amendments to citations that are the result of a prompt settlement, which OSHA encourages. Employers and employee representatives will continue to receive copies of the citation(s) upon issuance.

Inspection: 1603073.015 - Universal Tile & Marble Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Dallas Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 12:05 p.m. on June 16, 2022, an employee was grouting a fireplace that had been tiled the previous day. The fireplace is approximately twenty-one feet tall. The employee and coworkers had assembled a mobile scaffolding two-tiers tall and approximately 11-feet tall. To reach the top of the fireplace, the employee and coworkers used a Louisville 6-foot A-frame ladder placed on top of the scaffolding. The employee was observed working alone and had been standing on the ladder for about 30 minutes. Two coworkers from another subcontractor working in a room upstairs heard a scream and a crash. The coworkers found the employee laying face down on the concrete floor directly in front of the fireplace. No one witnessed the fall, but the ladder and scaffolding had fallen over and away from the fireplace. It is most likely that while the employee was pushing the grout into the space between the tiles he pushed on the ladder and caused the scaffold to tilt away from the fireplace. The scaffolding fell onto its side bring the employee down with it. The employee was killed when he fell straight down to the ground. The employee landed headfirst on the concrete floor and was unresponsive after the fall. Paramedics noted that the employee had a depressed skull fracture enar the right temple and attempted resuscitation on site but they could not revive the employee.

Keywords: Concrete Floor, Construction, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Head, Insufficient Supervision, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lack of Work Procedures, Ladder, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Multi-employer Worksite, Multiemployer, Scaffold, Skull, Supervision, Supervisor, Unresponsive, Unstable Position, Unstable Surface, Walking Surface, Work Surface