Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125875989 - Henderson Tree Service

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on March 25, 2004, Employee #1, a contract employee for a secondary employer, Henderson Tree Service, was part of a crew conducting tree trimming and debris cleaning operations at a single family residence in San Diego, CA. He was also in charge of supervising the rest of his coworkers. At the time of the incident, Employee #1 was working around the garage area of the house. The flat roof of the garage contained debris that resulted from the tree trimming operation. Employee #1 climbed to the roof in order to clean it; he grabbed a 14-ft type I Werner aluminum extension ladder (model D-1328-2), placed it on the driveway and leaned it up against the garage in front of the garage door. Once on the roof, he used a rake to sweep the debris onto the ground on the side of the garage. As Employee #1 was stepping on the ladder to descend the roof after finishing his task, the ladder lost traction and slipped. He fell about 9 ft and 5 in. (the height of the roof) to the concrete driveway, landing on his head and left arm. Employee #1 was transported to the Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for a broken left wrist and received stitches to his forehead. The ladder was inspected after the incident occurred, and was found to have good slip resistance. A crack was found on one of the side rails where the ladder bases are attached and it propagated 7 inches from the base of the rail past the first rung. It was not determined whether the crack was there prior to the incident. Employee #1 did not inspect the ladder before using it and he did not tie it off. He did not notice anything wrong with the ladder and he deemed it stable as he ascended the roof.

Keywords: FRACTURE, HEAD, ROOF, WORK RULES, LADDER, SLIP, TREE, FALL, ARM, TREE TRIMMING