Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310205794 - North Wall Erectors, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Chicago North Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:20 a.m. on July 13, 2006, Employee #1 was working with another employee and they were staging roof decking material onto the bar joists. The decking material was being lifted by a crane. The employees were wearing body harnesses and lanyards. The employees attached their lanyards to a horizontal lifeline which was connected to the bar joists. The lifeline was a quarter inch steel cable approximately 200 ft in length. As the worked progressed from the south end of the building to the north end, the employees would unhook the lifeline and walk it down the building. They would then reattach the lifeline and reattach their lanyards. During the moving of the lifeline, the employees were not protected from falling. The employees had performed this operation two times previously in the day. During the third move of the lifeline, Employee #1 was walking north along the top of the wall pulling the lifeline. The lifeline became stuck on a bar joist or wall at approximately the middle of the lifeline. Employee #1 pulled on the lifeline to free it. In doing so the lifeline went over the west side of the building at approximately the same area it was stuck. Employee #1 did not know that the lifeline had slid over the wall. The employee at the south end of the lifeline had observed it slide over the wall. The coworker at the south end shouted several warnings to Employee #1 at the north end. The loop that formed by the cable sliding down the wall reached Employee #1 at approximately the same time Employee #1 was turning his head because of the warning from the coworker to the south. At this time Employee #1 lost his balance due to the lifeline pulling loose from his hand. Employee #1 hung briefly onto the side of the building before falling to the ground. There were no contributing weather variables; it was clear and hot with no precipitation. There were two other employees at the site. One was on the ground rigging the material to be hoisted to the two employees on the roof. The other employee was on the roof at the north end completing work on previously installed decking material. Employee #1 was killed as a result of a 40 ft fall from the top of a wall of a warehouse building under construction.

Keywords: DECKING, CONSTRUCTION, LANYARD, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, LOST BALANCE