Inspection Detail

Inspection: 102263985 - Terry'S Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

At about 9:55 a.m. on Tuesday, May 4, 1993, Employee #1 had been instructed to pick up trash from the low-pitch roof decking of a small building on which the subcontractor was installing insulation and hyplon roofing. The building measured 18 ft by 34 ft by 15 ft high (5.8 m by 10.4 m by 4.6 m); there were two 30 in. square (76.2 cm) openings in the decking. The openings were covered by pieces of the metal decking weighted down with angle irons (8 ft 7 in. or 2.6 m), and the entire area was covered by sheets of plastic. Employee #1 removed one of the metal covers and fell through the opening to the concrete below. There were no eyewitnesses. Employee #1 died of his injuries. There may have been a miscommunication between the prime contractor and the subcontractor about the two openings; as a result Employee #1 may not have received accurate instructions before beginning his task.

Keywords: ROOF, ROOF DECKING, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, COMMUNICATION