Inspection Detail

Inspection: 306291212 - Robert Baysinger & Sons, Inc.

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

Investigation Summary

On March 5, 2003, Employee #1, a construction laborer, was flaking out individual trusses from a bundle of half-hip wood trusses. The bundle was stored upright and was not braced. It measured 20 ft at the bottom, 6.5 ft at the top, 7 ft on the east side and 15 ft on the west side, and was approximately 17 ft, 10 in. above concrete. The bundle contained fifteen trusses measuring approximately 22.5 in. wide. After the metal banding was cut, the bundle was held together by three 2-ft by 4-ft boards, spanning the width of the bundle with one nail in each truss. The trusses were resting on a steel I-beam on the east side with a newly-constructed cement block wall on the west side. At the time of the accident, the employee was instructed to remove one truss from the bundle. He climbed on top of the bundle and positioned himself to keep it upright, as outlined in the HIB-91 Summary Sheet for wood trusses published by Truss Plate Institute. The employee hadn't gotten his hammer out of his tool belt when the entire bundle toppled, throwing him down to the concrete. The bundle then fell over, onto the concrete floor landing on his left leg. Employee #1 fractured his left femur and kneecap and was hospitalized. The employee was wearing work clothes and a hard hat but the bundle of trusses lacked bracing.

Keywords: FRACTURE, TRUSS, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, STRUCK BY, BRACING, FALLING OBJECT, UNTRAINED, LEG