Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302797337 - Allied Building Products Corp

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, age 20, was assigned to stack shingles on the roofs of contractors' sites. Prior to each delivery, the company required the delivery employee and his field supervisor--generally a truck driver--to assess the roof pitch and other conditions to determine if it was safe to deliver the shingles to the roof, or preferable to stack them on the ground. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was making his first delivery of the day. He was on the peak of a 12-in-12 pitched roof when he placed his weight on a chicken board near the peak. The board failed and Employee #1 slid down the roof and over the edge, falling 15 ft 6 in. to the ground. He suffered non-permanent injuries and was transported to the hospital, where he was treated and released. No personal fall arrest system had been installed and Employee #1 was not wearing any form of fall protection. He had been trained in fall protection issues, but had only been on the job for two months. The field supervisor had not been trained in fall protection issues because company policy did not provide for training truck drivers, even though he was required to participate in the decision-making concerning fall protection. He did not know about interim fall protection measures for residential construction, and was not equipped to effectively assess whether or not the use of the provided fall arrest harness and lines was mandatory. The Management and union representatives subsequently agreed that a retraining program for all delivery employees, including drivers, was appropriate, including a method for gauging the pitch of a roof.

Keywords: ROOF, WORK RULES, STEEP GRADE, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, UNTRAINED