Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310058987 - Nolen & Sons Painting

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

On August 21, 2007, Employee #1, an experienced painter, who was on his first day at work for a new employer, and a coworker were lowering a scaffold into a 23-ft by 77-ft by 50-ft concrete pit that housed four high pressure water pipes carrying water from central California to communities around San Francisco. Employee #1 was standing on a 24-in concrete ledge that surrounded the top of the pit. A guardrail ran along the outside of the ledge, but Employee #1 was on the outside of it. He used a rope to lower a section of scaffold pole down to the coworker inside the pit and lost his balance and fell. He struck a wooden railing before landing on his right shoulder on the concrete floor of the pit. Employee #1 remained conscious and talking as he was transported by the Fremont Fire Department to San Jose Regional Medical Center. He suffered a spinal fracture and was hospitalized for nine days.

Keywords: FRACTURE, GUARDRAIL, CONSTRUCTION, BACK, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, LOST BALANCE, PAINTER, SCAFFOLD, UNSTABLE POSITION