Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300776218 - United Roofing Co

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:12 p.m. on December 2, 2000, Employee #1, who works for United Roofing Corporation, fractured both arms after falling sixteen feet from a roof. His employer was hired to install a new roof on a building as part of an earthquake-retrofitting project. All framing had already being done by the general contractor. Half of the roof on the same building had already been done by an eight member crew, including Employee #1. The incident took place while working on the roof on the second half of the building. The portion of the roof under process had three to four roof openings, about two feet in diameter, designed to fit roof turbines. The framing contractor had covered the openings with plywood nailed to the roof. At the time of the incident, the foreman removed the nailed cover and placed a bigger piece of plywood over the opening but did not nail it to the roof. He did not nail the cover because the felting process required the removal of the cover to install the felt. Once the felting was completed, they go back and re-nail the original cover until further process. When the area next to the roof opening needed to be felted, the foreman asked Employee #1 to remove the cover. After giving him these instructions, the foreman turned around and went to do something else. Shortly after taking off, the foreman heard a loud noise. He turned his face back and saw Employee #1 with most of his body in the roof opening trying to hold his body with his arms. Employee #1 could not support his own weight and fell sixteen feet to the floor. As a result, he broke both arms. The area where Employee #1 landed was being occupied by a plastic bag company. The bag company called for paramedics. The paramedics took Employee #1 to County General Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

Keywords: FRACTURE, ROOF, FALL, ARM