Inspection Detail

Inspection: 314055815 - Canoyer Country Greenhouse Dba Canoyer Garden Cent

Inspection Information - Office: Omaha Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on July 7, 2010, Employee #1, a Laborer for Canoyer Garden Center was assigned to work with the employer, the Landscape Manager, to repair the damaged roof in the south greenhouse. Approximately 6 ft of glazed polycarbonate corrugated roof panels detached, due to excessive snow build up over the past winter, along the gutter. Neither the employer nor Employee #1 had experience making this type of repair. However, the employer had dissembled a greenhouse before. The employer and Employee #1 climbed on the roof, drilled out the rivets to the panels, which were 3 ft wide and 25 ft long running length wise from peak to gutter. As they were replacing the damaged panels with the new panels, Employee #1 slipped and slid feet first on his stomach 6 ft down the roof, falling through the gap along the gutter in the roof. He landed on his feet and then fell back and struck his head. An Ambulance was called, and Employee #1 was transferred to Creighton Medical Center for treatment, where he later died due to the injuries he sustained in the fall. It was thought that the contributing factors that caused the accident included: lack of fall hazard training and not providing fall protection (fall arrest harness, lanyard and rope) while working on an elevated work platform such as a scaffold or scissor lift. The employer was cited with multiple violations.

Keywords: ROOF, ROPE, INEXPERIENCE, LANYARD, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, ELEVATED WORK PLAT, UNTRAINED, ROOF PANEL, SCAFFOLD