Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) Report: Carpenter Dies in 90-Foot Fall from Top of Parking Garage, October 29, 1988

摘要

A 49 year old male carpenter fell 90 feet to his death from the top of a parking garage which was under construction. He was employed by a construction company that has been in business for 14 years. The principal business of the firm was the erection of concrete structures. The company employs 800 workers including 530 carpenters. The employer has a safety officer and written safety rules and procedures. The victim had been a carpenter for about 30 years and worked for this employer for about 7 months. The victim and a coworker were preparing a form for pouring a prestressed concrete column at the eleventh floor level of a parking garage. The victim was tied off to a 1.5 inch diameter rebar. He had secured one end of a 6 foot lanyard to one D-ring on his safety belt, fed the other end of the lanyard through a second D-ring on the belt and then secured it to the first D-ring. This created a loop with the lanyard. He took an 8 foot lanyard and, at its midpoint, wrapped it several times around the 1.5 inch rebar. He took one end of the 8 foot lanyard, passed it through the loop of the 6 foot lanyard and fastened the snap hook to the snap hook at the other end. His coworker witnessed the fall and reported seeing the lanyard unwrapping from the rebar. It was recommended that the employer train the employees in the proper use of safety equipment and that the employer evaluate potential tie off points and determine if the available safety equipment can work as designed.