Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301993986 - Cowboy Steel Company

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

On the afternoon of February 3, 1999, Employee #1 and a coworker were engaged in structural steel work on a new school building in Baldwin, LA. They were using a scissor lift in the entryway of the structure, installing and tightening the purlins where the roof of the main hallway met the roof of the office/classroom section. A supervisor had told Employee #1 to first install the short purlin running from the hallway roof to the office/classroom roof. When other site work had been completed, the supervisor had returned to assist him. At that point, the short purlin was tied in and Employee #1 had started working on the long one. The pitch of the office/classroom roof was 3-in-12, while the pitch of the hallway roof was 6-in-12. These different pitched roofs were also constructed of different gauge steel, 12 gauge vs. 14 gauge. This meant that the purlins had to be "twisted" for the connecting holes to line up. Employee #1 had positioned the scissor lift under the purlin, about 18 in. from the beam. He had then used the scaffold guardrail to climb up onto the beam to work when he fell approximately 15 ft from the structure, and was killed. According to the employer, it was common practice for workers to tie off and use the guardrail this way. At the time of the incident, the supervisor said he remembered seeing Employee #1 wearing his safety belt, but he also stated that just prior to the fall, he saw the belt on the guardrail of the scissor lift. Apparently it had been raining that afternoon, making the work surfaces slippery.

Keywords: ERECTION PROCESS, WORK RULES, SAFETY BELT, CONSTRUCTION, STEEL ERECTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, SLIPPERY SURFACE, TIE-OFF, UNSTABLE POSITION