After three years of investigation, a report was issued May 1 regarding the death of a 29-year-old roofing worker who fell 45 feet through a skylight while performing work on a large industrial building, according to Safety+Health magazine. The worker was part of a crew installing roof insulation and skylights and had worked for his employer for 16 months.
A report from the Washington State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program says a framing crew signaled the roofing worker and his co-worker to carry a skylight lid to cover a hole. The roofing workers lifted a 4-by-8-foot lid at opposite ends, but after taking a half step forward, the co-worker heard the roofing worker’s end drop. When he looked back, he did not see the roofing worker, who had fallen 45 feet through a hole they did not know was under the lid. The co-worker and foreman ran downstairs and found the roofing worker unresponsive. Although several workers called 911 and began CPR, the first responders could not save him.
Investigators found the roofing workers were not experienced or trained in skylight installation. They also found visibility on the roof was affected by bundles of insulation; roofing workers were not using fall protection within warning lines where skylight holes were present; and a boom lift basket, which had been moved from below the hole before the fall happened, was being used as a fall-catch platform, which was against the manufacturer’s safety guidelines and state fall-protection rules.
To help prevent similar incidents, FACE investigators said employers should do the following.
- Provide fall-protection guardrails, screens, covers, warning lines, safety nets or personal fall-protection systems for roofing workers working around skylights and openings, and keep the area organized.
- Arrive onsite before work begins or appoint a supervisor to conduct a site hazard assessment with workers to identify fall hazards and develop protection methods and procedures in the fall-protection work plan.
- During the pre-job safety meeting, review the site hazard assessment and fall-protection work plan and emphasize workers’ responsibilities to follow fall-protection and roof and skylight safety requirements.
NRCA’s classes, webinars and products offer information to ensure you can keep your employees safe on job sites. For more information, view NRCA’s health and safety offerings, course catalog and Power Hour recordings or contact Rich Trewyn, NRCA’s director of risk education and training, at (847) 493-7575 or rtrewyn@nrca.net.
