Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300478864 - Parceners Limited Partnership

Inspection Information - Office: Oklahoma City Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a maintenance worker at an apartment complex, responded to a tenant's report that the balcony of his second floor apartment was in need of repair. Employee #1, the complex owner, and the manager all became involved in the effort to resolve this issue; ultimately, the manager and Employee #1 agreed that a note needed to be placed on the door of the apartment, asking the tenant to remove some firewood from the balcony so that repairs could be made. Employee #1 left to place this note, but failed to return to the office. The manager found him impaled on a dull, upward-pointing spike of the ornamental iron fence located below the balcony. A portion of the balcony had collapsed, and was resting on his head. Employee #1 was killed. There was no indication that Employee #1 had entered the apartment, and it appeared that he had gone to the area below the balcony and stood on the rock ledge into which the iron fence was built. He may have been pulling or pushing on the balcony when it fell on top of him.

Keywords: HEAD, MAINTENANCE, COLLAPSE, IMPALED, FALL, FALLING OBJECT, PUNCTURE