Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300871472 - K&A Development Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Los Angeles District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:30 a.m. on May 15, 2009, Employee #1, the president and coowner of Custom Wood Finishing, was at a residential construction site in Los Angeles, CA. The accident that occurred involved three employers: K& A, the general contractor overseeing the job site; Custom Wood, the exposed employer; and Dallinger Design, the creating employer. On May 1, 2009, a worker for Dallinger Design had removed a guardrail from some stairs at the worksite to use as a template. That day, at the end of his shift, he put up yellow caution tape instead of a wooden or other railing. On May 15, Employee #1 was going up those stairs, located at the entrance area, just as two workers were coming down. The stairs were a "swirl-type" stairway with a curve, and the width of the stairs varied from 54 inches to 64 inches. Employee #1 was standing close to the edge of the stairs at a place where they were six feet, three inches wide. This was at an open section, where, for a stretch of four feet, there was only yellow caution tape on the uprights. Other sections of the stairs were equipped with guard rails, but this section was unguarded. Employee #1 fell, going a distance of about 8 feet. He sustained several fractures in the thigh of his left leg, and he was hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center from May 15 to May 17. The injury line said there were no injuries. The exposed employees were the Dallinger employee who removed the horizontal railing to make the template and two workers from Custom Wood Finishing.

Keywords: FRACTURE, STAIR, GUARDRAIL, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, WALKING SURFACE, FALL, LOST BALANCE, UNGUARDED, LEG