Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300874468 - X L Plastering Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Los Angeles District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on May 18, 2011, Employee #1, a stucco foreman employed by XL Plastering Inc., was working on a scaffold applying stucco to the parapet of a new retail building. This job involved erecting a new building in a retail district where the top of the building parapet was 36 feet, 2 inches above street level. The parapet started about 18 feet back from the front face of the building, and those 18 feet were covered with bricks. The employer had erected scaffolding on the sidewalk in front of the building but the side portion of the parapet wall running from the street to the back of the lot was difficult to access. Employee #1 and his coworker were working on the roof of the building next door to this construction site in order to stucco the side section of the parapet wall. Neither Employee #1 nor his coworker was using fall protection. Employee #1 descended the scaffold, lost his footing, fell approximately 26 feet, and landed on the sidewalk below. Employee #1 was transported to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where he was hospitalized for two days before he died from his injuries. The accident was reported to DOSH by the employer on the day of the accident at about 4:15 p.m., less than eight hours after the event. Cal/OSHA has determined that the accident was caused by the failure to ensure that fall protection was employed. The following serious accident-related citation is being issued: 1637(n)(1) - Failure to provide a safe/unobstructed means of access to scaffolding as well as 1670(a) - Failure to provide fall protection for heights above 7.5 feet above grade.

Keywords: FRACTURE, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, SCAFFOLD