Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311442636 - Rnc Industries Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Manhattan Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:15 a.m. on November 21, 2007, Employee #1, a laborer, was working at the site of a planned 31-story building that had been constructed to the seventh level. He was assignd to clean up the fifth floor behind the concrete formwork installers. The formwork installers had removed the reshores and formwork beams from the underside of the seventh floor deck; at the same time they removed the guardrails from the seventh floor because they were attached to the formwork. The installers left in place the plywood on the underside of the seventh floor deck, but did not put back the reshores, so the plywood was only held in place by the newly-hardened concrete. The coworkers went out to the edge of the seventh floor to attach straps to the same plywood, tieing off their fall protection harnesses. Employee #1 then came up to the seventh floor and approached them, stooping below an inner guardrail. He stepped down onto a piece of the plywood that was sticking out 2 ft from the underside of the seventh floor deck. The plywood broke loose when he put his weight on it, and he fell 38 ft to the lower roof setback. He died of injuries sustained in the fall. Employee #1 was not wearing a fall protection harness when he walked out to the seventh floor.

Keywords: CONCRETE FORM WORK, PANEL, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION