Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Michigan: Hotel Assistant Manager Dies Due to a Fall from a Ladder During Installation of Wood Trim

摘要

On October 17, 2007, a 28-year-old male hotel assistant manager died when he fell approximately 20 feet from a fiberglass ladder. The hotel was undergoing renovation. Company A, which also owned the hotel, was acting as the general contractor for the hotels renovation. Company A had two individuals (Co-owner no. 1 and Co-owner no. 2) on site at the time of the incident. Company A had subcontracted the trim work to a local contractor. This local contractor had not completed the trim installation on the west wall of the addition. One of the co-owners of Company A (Co-owner no. 1) noted the decedent cutting and staining several pieces of 10-foot-long wood trim in the saw area adjacent to the area where trim still needed to be installed. Co-owner no. 1 was called away from the saw area by Co-owner no. 2. Co-owners no. 1 and no. 2, who were both related to the decedent, were unaware that the decedent had placed a 28-foot extension ladder against the wall to be trimmed. The decedent ascended to the top of the ladder and using a nail gun, installed two sections of trim, beginning the trim installation at the wall/ceiling junction. The fall event was unwitnessed. Co-owner no. 1 found the decedent on the floor between the ladder and the west wall. The ladder was found leaning against a light fixture approximately 10 feet away. Emergency response was called. The decedent was transported to a local hospital where he subsequently died.