Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316977040 - Har Construction Co Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:05 a.m. on March 8, 2013, Employee #1, a carpentry crew leader employed by HAR Construction Co. LLC, was working at a construction site where a new six-story apartment complex with two stories of underground parking was being built. He was wearing a hard hat and had on his carpenter's belt. He was walking on a wood platform on the fourth floor of the building under construction. The platform measured 9 feet 11 inches long by 47.5 inches wide and was not guarded on the north, south, and east sides. A gust of wind or some other factor caused Employee #1 to fall from the platform. He fell to a concrete floor area on the third floor below, a distance of approximately 10 feet 8.25 inches. He apparently did not strike or hit anything as he fell. He landed between two 2-foot by 4-foot wood braces that were positioned 5 feet 1.25 inches apart on the third floor. He landed face down, striking his head on the concrete floor approximately 4 feet 4 inches from a wood framed wall. Employee #1's fall was witnessed by Coworker #1, who was working on the third floor. Coworker #1 went to Employee #1 and got no response. He then went and got help from one or more others at the work site. When they returned, Employee #1 was still unresponsive. There was a considerable amount of blood pooled around Employee #1's head. Rescue personnel were called, and when they arrived, they pronounced Employee #1 dead at the scene from massive head trauma. The subsequent investigation established that Clark Builders Group LLC was the general contractor for this work project. One of the subcontractors was Agility Construction LLC, which had the framing contract. Agility subcontracted all of the framing work to HAR Construction Co. LLC, with which Agility had worked numerous times on other job sites. Agility's project manager had responsibility for overseeing the labor (the HAR employees) and the ordering and delivery of all the building materials. The project manager for Agility did the majority of the lay out and mark up of the different units on each floor. Agility dealt directly with the Clark Builders Group officials. HAR Construction Co. LLC had 52 employees working at this site. They had been at the site since early January 2013. There were two foremen, two crew leaders, 16 carpenters, and 32 skilled laborers. Their employees were working all over the large project. Employee #1 had been one of the two carpentry crew leaders. On other jobs he had been a foreman. He had worked for HAR Construction Co. for 8 years. As a crew leader he checked on the four groups of carpenters working throughout the project. He used a chalk line to lay out where the walls were to be constructed. He also assisted in undoing the rigging on the different loads of materials and equipment lifted up and onto the different floor levels by the tower crane. Prior to his fall, Employee #1 was up on the fourth floor conducting various work duties. During the investigation, Coworker #1 stated that he believed it was approximately 9:00 a.m. when Employee #1, while still up on the fourth floor, walked over near the work area on the third floor where Coworker #1 was working. Coworker #1 told Employee #1 that they needed one more 2-foot by 4-foot piece of lumber and that there were no more on the third floor. Employee #1 went back to an area on the fourth floor that was enclosed by guardrails and picked up a piece of lumber from a lumber stack. He then handed the lumber down to Coworker #1 from either inside or outside the guarded area. After Coworker #1 took the lumber, Employee #1 told Coworker #1 he was going to come down to the third floor using the job-made wood ladder that was at the east end of the platform nearby. Within seconds Employee #1 fell from the south side of the fourth floor platform to a concrete floor area on the third floor. All of the building's floors were made of wood except this concrete section on the third floor, which was intended for the future C

Keywords: PLATFORM, HIGH WIND, GUARDRAIL, CARPENTER, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, BRAIN, CONCRETE, UNGUARDED