Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301042115 - Peter Kacer Construction Company

Inspection Information - Office: Wilkes Barre Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, the owner of the company, and two coworkers were installing roofing materials on a house in Carbondale, PA. The scaffold pic on which Employee #1 and one coworker were standing was a 20 ft long aluminum ladder with plywood screwed to the rungs. The scaffold brackets were 2 by 6 boards nailed together in a triangle and covered with 1 in. thick OSB board (a material comparable to plywood). Employee #1 was standing at the southeast corner of the scaffold when the bracket closest to him broke away from the house. He fell approximately 17 ft to the ground, with this head striking against the concrete sidewalk as he landed. Employee #1 was transported to the Scranton (PA) Community Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The coworker on the scaffold remained on the portion of the scaffold still standing, and was able to climb down a ladder to the ground. There was no evidence of the bracket or the scaffold components failing. However, the wood into which the bracket had been nailed was rotten and could not support the weight imposed on the scaffold.

Keywords: HEAD, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, ROOFER, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, ELEVATED WORK PLAT, SCAFFOLD