On April 3, 2013, Employee #1, a 56-year-old male with Cy & Serena Construction Inc dba Budget Home Construction, was performing construction duties on the East (Diamond Head) side of the home, on a scaffold, about 12 ft. above a concrete stairway, marking rafters. Employee #1 was not wearing a PFAS full body harness; the scaffolding did not have guardrails or netting installed. Employee #1 remembers marking the rafters, and then he stated that he "felt like he was falling." At that moment, Employee #1 told himself to relax and he did not remember anything after that. Employee #1 woke up in the emergency room at Queens Hospital. Employee #1 suffered bruises to his back, laceration to his forehead and was taken to Queens Hospital for treatment. Investigation Report: 1. Employee #1 was working on scaffolding when he fell about 12 ft. onto a concrete stairway. 2. Employee #1 was the employer. 3. Employee #1 erected the scaffolding himself. 4. The scaffolding was rented from Atlas Builders. 5. Employee #1 was wearing a PFAS full body harness; the scaffolding did not have guardrails or safety nets installed. 6. Employee #1 did not get any formal fall protection and scaffolding training. 7. Employee #1 and the employer said that his site fall protection rule was, no workers were allowed on the scaffold until he is finished erecting the scaffolding and deemed the scaffolding safe yet he allowed workers to use the scaffolding. 8. The job site house was a duplex, the rear unit is 1,200 square feet unit is 1500 sf. 9. The roof had a 4/12 pitch. 10. The rear eave was 16 ft. above ground and the front eave was 12 ft. above the ground. 11. Employee #1 was the employer and the General Contractor. 12. The General Contractor started on the project in October 2012 and estimated he will complete the job by June 2013. 13. There were no witnesses to the fall, although there were two other workers at the job site at the time of the event. Causes: 1. Employee #1 was not protected from falling off the scaffolding. He did not wear a full body harness and was not tied off. 2. The scaffolding did not have any guardrails. 3. A safety net was installed around the scaffolding. Employee #1 had 30 years of experience with the employer and the weather conditions were sunny with clear skies on the day of the event.
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