Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315040147 - Busam Motor Sales, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Cincinnati Area Office

Investigation Summary

On October 21, 2010, Employee #1, a 62 year-old male, with Busam Motor Sales Inc., was working with a coworker and were washing exterior overhead glass garage door windows outside the dealership's service area, at times were working from six-foot step ladders. The coworker finished and went back inside to put his ladder, towel and window spray cleaner bottle away. At this time, a manager inside the dealership service area observed Employee #1 roaming outside walking, in a slumped and wobbly manner, away from the area where he was last seen on his ladder, which was approximately twenty-feet from the showroom entry doorway. The manager lost visual contact as the worker crossed behind a building structure. A second in- store sales manager stated shortly after this time that he heard a noise as if a bird had hit the showroom window (also about 20 feet away from the ladder). The second manager stated he turned quickly to see Employee #1 laying on the ground next to the showroom entry door. Employee #1 was unconscious and never regained consciousness. Employee #1 died nine days later from a traumatic brain injury. Emergency Medical Services report indicated that the head injury was likely from a fall between one and five feet. Hospital records indicated the worker fell from the second or third rung of a step ladder while descending. There were no eye witnesses to the event and, since the employee involved in the incident never regained consciousness in order to describe his accident, the specific accounts of what happened or how the incident evolved are speculative from individuals involved only after the accident or from medical analysis of the head injury. The dealership officials mentioned a previous episode several months prior where Employee #1 became light headed and Emergency Medical Services were summoned. It was suspected in this case, that the worker had some type of seizure and just fell as he started to enter the door.

Keywords: HEAD, LADDER, STRUCK AGAINST, FALL, CONCUSSION