Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310062542 - Hoge Painting, Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:15 a.m. on December 23, 2007, Employee #1 and a coworker, of Hoge Painting, Inc., were standing on the 4 ft high platform of a portable scaffold facing away from the building. They were painting the interior surface of a 10 ft high awning above the entry door to a store. As they were working, the scaffold rolled out from under them and they fell 4 ft to the ground. Employee #1 scraped his head against a stone-covered wall and suffered a fractured cervical vertebra and lacerations to his scalp. He was transported to Eden Hospital for treatment. The coworker sustained a back injury. He initially declined medical treatment, but later took seven days off from work. A coworker-supervisor heard the workers fall, but he was inside the building at the time and his view was obstructed because the windows were masked off for painting. The employer later stated that Employee #1 apologized for not locking the wheels of the scaffold. Employee #1's fiancee later stated that the employer had not provided scaffold safety training before the day of the accident.

Keywords: FRACTURE, MOBILE SCAFFOLD, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, BACK, FALL, PAINTER, UNTRAINED, VERTEBRA