Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315776815 - Adornment Painting & Drywall

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:50 a.m. on January 7, 2014, Employee #1, Coworker #1, and Coworker #2, the project Lead/Foreman, all employed by Adornment Painting & Drywall, Inc., were working inside a residence, installing sheetrock on the ceiling and wall. Employee #1 fell from the platform of one of two scaffolds being used to the floor below, a fall height of approximately 162 inches (13.5 feet). Emergency services were called, and the Atherton Police Department and Menlo Park Fire Department responded. Employee #1 was transported to Stanford Hospital, admitted, and treated for a knee fracture and facial fracture. He remained hospitalized for approximately two days. This event was reported to Cal/OSHA by the Atherton Police Department at 1:50 p.m. on January 7, 2014; and by the Menlo Park Fire Department at 3:00 p.m. on January 7, 2014. The employer failed to notify Cal/OSHA of the event and Employee #1's serious injuries. During Cal/OSHA's subsequent investigation, which began at the worksite at approximately 11:00 a.m. on January 24, 2014, the parties interviewed gave differing accounts of what had transpired. Initially, the investigator inspected the site accompanied by the owner of Adornment Painting & Drywall, Inc., with no employees present at the site. According to the owner, he was not at the site when the fall occurred. He went to the site after receiving a call from Atherton Police Department. The owner stated that his employees were assembling a rolling metal scaffold, one of the two scaffolds being used, when Employee #1 fell to the floor below. This rolling scaffold measured approximately 91 inches long, 60 inches wide, and 180 feet high. It was being used by Adornment Painting & Drywall employees but was owned by Miller Construction, the general contractor, according to Adornment Painting & Drywall, Inc.'s owner. The owner stated his company stopped using the rolling scaffold since the fall. On January 28, 2014, the Cal/OSHA investigator interviewed Coworker #2 at the job site. Coworker #2, the project Lead/Foreman, stated that Employee #1, who was on the rolling scaffold, asked him to move the scaffold away from the wall. Employee #1 fell when Coworker #2 moved the scaffold slightly. On February 6, 2014, the Cal/OSHA investigator interviewed Employee #1. Employee #1 stated that, on the day of his fall, he and Coworker #1 were installing sheetrock on the high ceiling and wall, using the upper platform level of the rolling scaffold and an elevated platform that had been installed by the workers. Employee #1 and Coworker #1 were on the elevated platform as they installed sheetrock on the wall. Coworker #2, who was on the second floor, handed sheetrock to Employee #1. After Employee #1 and Coworker #1 finished installing sheetrock on the wall and ceiling, they proceeded to dismantle the platform(s) to move them to the lower level. As Employee #1 bent down to remove a nail from a platform plank, Employee #1 fell from the elevated platform to the floor below. The investigation established that the elevated scaffold's platform and the rolling scaffold's platform each were 13.5 feet high. The elevated platform consisted of two planks, approximately 5 feet to 6 feet long. One end of the elevated platform was supported by a 2-inch by 4-inch wood member attached to the wall, and the other end of the elevated platform rested on the platform of the rolling scaffold. The rolling scaffold's platform had mid-rails but no top rails. The elevated platform had no railing on its sides. The edge of the second floor, where Coworker #2 was positioned when he was handing sheetrock to Employee #1, had a top rail but did not have a mid-rail. Based on the findings of its investigation, Cal/OSHA issued four Serious citations to the employer, Adornment Painting & Drywall, Inc., alleging violations of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations (T8 CCR): The employer failed to protect its employees from fall hazards while working on elevated area

Keywords: KNEE, FRACTURE, INSTALLING, WALL, CEILING, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, FACE, SCAFFOLD