Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310098405 - Ace Iron, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:05 a.m. on August 16, 2010, Employee #1 was working on a construction project in Pacifica, CA. He was an employee of Ace Iron, Inc., and the project's general contractor was Lathrop Construction Associates. The project involved the construction of two additional classroom buildings and a theater at a high school. On the day of the accident, Employee #1 was assigned by his supervisor to remove a bent plate from a beam on the second floor of one of the structures. In an interview, Employee #1 stated that, prior to the accident, he was cutting the welds on the plate. Employee #1 could not remove the last weld, so he decided to go down to get a smaller disc cutter. Employee #1 said he was two feet down the ladder when he removed his lanyard connection from a steel post. At that point, Employee #1 heard a loud crack. A steel plate hit him, and he fell to the ground below, a fall distance of 17 feet. Employee #1 suffered thoracic vertebral fractures as a result of the accident. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for evaluation and treatment. He was admitted at 2:37 p.m. on August 16, 2010, and was discharged at 8:40 p.m. on August 17, 2010. Employee #1 said he used a ladder resting on a beam near the area where he was working. Employee #1 said the ladder was not extended above the beam, since a coworker was fixing a bolt next to the ladder. The coworker, in an interview, stated that he was fixing a bolt on a beam located across from where Employee #1 was working during the accident. The coworker said he was working next to a ladder that he set up that morning. According to the coworker, Employee #1 used the ladder to ascend, but he did not see Employee #1 use the ladder to go down. The coworker said he did not see how Employee #1 fell. Employee #1 was already on the ground when he saw him. Photographs taken on the day of the accident by the general contractor, Lathrop Construction Associates, confirmed the coworker's statement on the location of the ladder. The ladder was resting on a beam next to where the coworker was working. Employee #1 was not tied off when he was hit by the bent plate that had become detached from a beam. The steel plate that hit Employee #1 was the bent plate he was working on, cutting the welds, prior to the accident. Photographs taken by the general contractor showed the bent steel plate detached from a beam. Photographs did not show a ladder next to the area where Employee #1 was working.

Keywords: STEEL PLATE, FRACTURE, PPE, LADDER, CONSTRUCTION, STEEL ERECTION, LANYARD, FALL, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT