Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305477077 - Redondo Beach Unified School District

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:30 a.m. on September 7, 2004, Employee #1 was working in a high school auditorium. Above the main seating area of the auditorium, approximately 35 feet above the floor, were 500 watt pendant lamps. For maintenance operations, including the changing of bulbs, most of the lamp bulbs could be accessed directly from the catwalk but because of catwalk configurations and light locations, there were a few bulbs that could not be accessed easily from the catwalk. In these cases, a long rod with a hook on one end was used to rein in the pendant lamp. On the same elevation where the light pendants were located, there were baffle boards. These are drywall cutouts of different shapes suspended from the ceiling of the auditorium for acoustic purposes. Employee #1, the stage manager for the auditorium, was responsible for tasks such as handling props, managing sound booths, and changing light bulbs. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was changing a lamp bulb situated on one end of a baffle board. In this instance, hooking it with the rod was not feasible since the wires that suspended the baffle board were in the way. The employee decided to climb down from the catwalk, walk across the baffle board and pull the pendant lamp from there. After a few seconds, the employee felt the baffle board giving way under his feet. As he fell through the hole, he was able to grab the baffle board's metal support members. After 10 minutes, he could not hold on to the support member any longer and he let go. He landed on his feet between the fourth and fifth row of seats in front of the stage. He suffered a frontal bone fracture on his forehead, a punctured left knee, and an abrasion on his right leg. He was hospitalized with his injuries.

Keywords: KNEE, FRACTURE, HEAD, MAINTENANCE, ABRASION, CATWALK, FALL, WORK SURFACE, LEG