Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315313684 - Jose Mendoza Dba Jose Mendoza Painting Co.

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

On April 12, 2011, Employer #2, a homeowner, hired Employer #1, an unlicensed contractor, to paint parts of Employer #2's house. Employer #1 went to a paint store in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland to purchase paint, and hired Employee #1 at that location. Employee #1 was a 54-year-old painter with 20 years of experience, and had never worked for either Employer #1 or Employer #2. At the worksite, Employee #1 was assigned to paint the chimney on the outside of the house. Employee #1 placed a ladder to the right side of the chimney and climbed on to the roof. He then used a rope to haul supplies to the roof. Employee #1 was lifting a board up with the rope and slipped on the wet roof. Employee #1 slid down the front side of the roof. He tried to grab hold of the rafters on the roof, but was unable to stop his fall. Employee #1 fell approximately 17 feet into a rhododendron bush located below Employee #1's working position. Employee #1 sustained multiple injuries from the fall, including five rib fractures on his left side, an orbital fracture on the left side, and a fractured left clavicle. At the beginning of the work day, Employee #1 had driven his own vehicle to the worksite. Approximately 10 minutes after the accident, Employer #1 drove Employee #1 to Employee #1's house in his vehicle. Employees from another worksite followed the vehicle to Employee #1's house in order to drive Employer #1 back to the worksite. Employer #1 did not implement use of fall protection or fall protection systems when assigning work to employees at elevated work locations with known exposed unprotected leading edges of the roof. Employer #1 also did not ensure the availability of emergency medical services for this injured employee at the time of injury.

Keywords: FRACTURE, ROOF, COLLARBONE, LADDER, HEALTH CARE FACILITY, RIB, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, FACE