Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 200010395 - Employee killed in fall from TV tower
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
302254032 | 12/08/1998 | 1799 | 0 | Arthur'S Tower Erection Co. |
Abstract: Employee #1 was part of a crew building a 1,000 ft tower for a local television station. The bulk of the tower had been completed and the crew was installing dampeners on the guys a few feet away. The crew members hooked themselves to the guy lines and a lanyard so they could slide out to a predetermined distance. The guy suspended a worker while the lanyard, which was hooked to the tower, kept him from sliding down. The job supervisor, Employee #1, and another coworker had installed the dampeners on the 1,000 ft guy lines and had begun attaching them at the 800 ft level when Employee #1 was seen lowering himself down the guy while his lanyard unfolded over his shoulder. At this time the supervisor noticed that Employee #1's hook was not attached to the lanyard but was hanging down from his waist. When Employee #1 reached his position, the lanyard went over his shoulder and failed to hold him there. Employee #1 then screamed that he was not hooked up. The job supervisor and a coworker operating the lift tried to get the lift out to Employee #1, who was holding onto the guy to keep from sliding down. The lift was not capable of swinging out that far from the tower, so the supervisor hooked himself to guy line and, using Employee #1's lanyard, slid out to him. Shortly thereafter Employee #1 let go of the guy and slid all the way down. He was killed on impact or soon after. Employee #1 was capable of simply pulling himself back up the guy line. Once the dampeners were attached he was supposed to use his own strength to pull himself back up, and he had done so at the 1,000 ft level. When Employee #1 realized his lanyard was not attached, he apparently froze. There was no evidence of equipment failure and the evidence suggests that Employee #1 believed he was hooked up until the lanyard attached to the tower went over his shoulder.
End Use | Project Type | Project Cost | Stories | Non-building Height | Fatality | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tower, tank, storage elevator | New project or new addition | $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 | 1000 | X |
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation | Construction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 302254032 | Fatality | Other | Occupation not reported | Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: 800 feet Cause: Erecting structural steel Fatality Cause: Fall, other |