Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307339739 - Amtech Lighting Services, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:35 a.m. on October 3, 2005, Employee #1 was conducting routine maintenance on the lights at a Bank of America building in Union City, CA. In the course of troubleshooting the exterior lights, he needed to find and cover the photo cell to activate it. Using a ladder inside the building, he accessed the roof and located the photo cell on a junction box at the southeast edge of the drive-up teller canopy. Employee #1 climbed over the parapet wall of the roof onto the concrete canopy, then down the tile roof siding of the canopy onto a 6 in. ledge gutter. He covered the photo cell and then continued with servicing the lights. Afterward, he needed to remove the tape covering the photo cell, and he accessed it in the same manner as he had done earlier. As he approached the 6 in. ledge of the canopy roof, his foot failed to catch the gutter and he fell 14 ft 3 in. onto the cement driveway. Employee #1 was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he underwent surgery for a fractured left wrist and was treated for a fractured right ankle and compounded L2 vertebra. He was hospitalized for 14 days and was then transferred to Kindred Hospital in Modesto to be closer to his family. Employee #1 was not wearing any personal fall restraint or arrest system, nor was any other form of fall protection in use.

Keywords: FRACTURE, MAINTENANCE, ROOF, WORK RULES, SLIP, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, VERTEBRA, UNSTABLE POSITION