Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311360259 - Infinity Construction Services, Lp

Inspection Information - Office: Houston North Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:45 a.m. on September 11, 2007, Employee #1, a scaffold builder, and three coworkers were dismantling part of a hanging scaffold built in a pipe rack to install a 3 ft process line at the Exxon Olefins BOP-X plant in Baytown, TX. Employee #1 tied a rope to a truss so that the rope could be used lower the scaffold to the ground after it was disconnected. He then walked 10 ft along the truss to a supported scaffold platform. As he stepped onto the platform, Employee #1 was trying to connect his lanyard to a scaffold runner but he apparently missed the tie-off point with the snap hook. He lost his balance and fell approximately 17 ft onto a road in the plant. Employee #1 sustained blunt force trauma to his head, facial injuries, a fractured rib, and a collapsed lung. He was transported to the hospital, where he died two days later. The employer had a 100 percent tie-off policy, and Employee #1 was wearing a fall protection harness and a shock absorbing Y-lanyard. He had connected the snap hooks together to make a loop on an overhead process line shortly before he fell. Employee #1 apparently disconnected the two ends of the lanyard from one another while he was trying to tie-off to the runner.

Keywords: HEAD, DISMANTLING, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, LANYARD, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, LOST BALANCE, TIE-OFF, SCAFFOLD