Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302617873 - C & J Builders

Inspection Information - Office: Mobile Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:30 a.m. on April 3, 2000, Employee #1 was on the third floor exterior balcony of the south side of a single-family residence, dismantling a job-built scaffold. The outrigger-type scaffold had been built on the balcony so that workers could install 2 by 4 framing on the soffit, allowing it to be enclosed. The scaffold consisted of outriggers nailed to either side of a door opening at the east end of the balcony. The outriggers ran from the door opening to the top of a 3 ft railing installed along the south edge of the balcony. A 2 by 4 supported each outrigger between the door and the railing, and another was nailed horizontally between the corner post at the southeast corner of the balcony and the east side of the house, 3 ft above the balcony deck. Workers used a 2 by10 plank that was laid across the two outriggers and the 2 by 4 at the east end of the balcony as a work platform to reach the soffit. When the work at the east end of the balcony was completed, a similar scaffold was erected at the center of the balcony. Employee #1 was dismantling the first scaffold when he fell 25 ft to the ground and was killed. There were no witnesses to the accident, but it appears that he fell trying to remove the 2 by 4 nailed between the corner post and the east side of the house. He most likely had knocked the plank loose from the post and was attempting to wiggle it back and forth to loosen it from the corner of the house. Otherwise, he would have had to lean around the corner of the building at the edge of the balcony to hit the board with his hammer. It was easier, and may have seemed safer, to loosen the nails by wiggling the board before trying to knock it loose with his hammer. As he moved the board, he lost his balance and fell off the end of the balcony. Wind may also have been a factor as coworkers and the owner said it was very windy on the day of the accident.

Keywords: HIGH WIND, DISMANTLING, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, LOST BALANCE, SCAFFOLD, UNSTABLE POSITION