Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307279927 - Chassagne'S Concrete, Inc.

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

Investigation Summary

On June 2, 2004, an employee, a laborer, was assigned to strip the form from the underneath area of the third floor balcony that had been poured the week before by the foreman. The employee had stripped numerous balconies as part of his work duties. He had stripped two other balconies the day before this incident. The employee had received scaffold and fall arrest training in June of 2003. The employee gathered his tools, which consisted of a claw hammer, a breaker, prying bar, and a baker scaffold. The baker scaffold had been at this work site for over a year and was used on a regular basis by all of the employees, as needed. The foreman took the employee to the second floor balcony in Unit H of Building Number 6 and explained what was needed to be done. The third floor balcony form was to be stripped. The foreman did not wait to see how the employee set up the baker scaffold. The Bil-Jax Multi-purpose Baker Scaffold had 6-in.-high wheels and was 53-in.-high with a thin plywood platform that was 29-in. wide and 5-ft 7-in.-long. The scaffold was 6-ft 1.75-in. in total length. The employee placed the baker scaffold out onto the balcony in a horizontal position going east-west at the north end of the balcony. The balcony was at the corner of the building and was configured in a L-shap. The balcony was 18-ft 5-in. by 19-ft 5-in. and was 8-ft and 6-ft-deep and was 11-ft 7-in. above the ground. The balcony was not guarded with any guardrails or midrails. It had never been guarded. After placing the baker scaffold out onto the balcony, the employee climbed up onto it. The baker scaffold was not guarded, and the employee was not wearing any fall protection that was available. The accident occurred approximately 15 minutes after he started the stripping process. While using a claw hammer and spreader and prying bar on a 7-ft-long double 2- by 4-ft, the scaffold started to roll towards the unguarded edge of the balcony. The employee failed to lock the wheels on the scaffold. As the employee realized that the scaffold was moving and was about to roll off of the balcony, he decided to jump from the baker scaffold. He could not jump down to the balcony, so he jumped to the ground below, which was a distance of approximately 16-ft. He landed on his feet but the scaffold fell behind him and hit the ground and bounced and struck him in his side at hip level. He was flown to Shock Trauma, where it was determined that he had cracked vertebrae and torn stomach muscles and other internal injuries. He was hospitalized and treated for his injuries.

Keywords: FRACTURE, FALL, VERTEBRA, STOMACH, SCAFFOLD