Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301056024 - Temprite A.C. & Refrigeration Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Hasbrouck Heights Area Office

Investigation Summary

On July 22, 1997, Employee #1 was working for Temprite Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Inc. on a service call. There were three employees from Temprite at the site. Employee #1 was getting equipment from the truck and bringing it up to the roof. The other two Temprite employees were on the roof of the building working on one of the air conditioning units. The hatchway had a 30-inch by 36-inch opening and was manufactured by the Bilco Company of New Haven, Connecticut. Access to the roof was by stairs leading up to a 12-foot-6-inch high platform where there was a 13-rung fixed ladder that went up 13 feet high through the hatchway to the roof. The hatch cover on the hatchway was on backwards, with the hinges on the ladder side, which causes difficulty when stepping off the ladder onto the edge of the hatchway. Employee #1 had gone up and down the hatchway three times that day before the accident. Employee #1 lowered a piece of rope down the side of the building and went down and tied the rope to a nitrogen tank which he was going to pull up to the roof once he had gotten up there. The two Temprite employees on the roof, who were approximately 40 feet away from the hatchway, heard a "bang" noise and when they checked the roof hatch opening, they saw a tank regulator on the metal stair platform and saw Employee #1 lying on the floor 25 feet below. One of the Temprite employees called emergency services for assistance, and the paramedics arrived and began to render advanced life support to Employee #1. He was then taken to Hackensack University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:57 p.m. The medical examiner declared that the death was caused by severe head trauma.

Keywords: HEAD, ROOF, HATCH, LADDER, NITROGEN, FALL, CONCUSSION, TANK