Accident: 170042626 - One Killed, One Injured, In Fall With Scaffold

At approximately 1:48 p.m. on August 17, 1998, Employee #1, age 15, was on a portable scaffold on the roof of a building. Employee #2 was in a boatswain's chair that was attached to the scaffold and swung over the side of the building. The portable scaffold tipped off the roof and Employee #1 fell with it approximately 45 ft to the ground. He suffered massive head trauma and was killed. Employee #2 plummeted approximately 40 ft and suffered multiple fractures of his left leg and hip. Employee #1 had been wearing a full body harness and was attached to the scaffold by a lanyard. Employee #2 was using a lifeline attached to the scaffold. However, counterbalance weights had not been installed on the scaffold, and it had not been securely anchored.

scaffold, unsecured, fall, fracture, head, overturn, bosun chair, counterbalance, work rules, unstable position

Accident: 171055387 - Injured In Fall From Ski Lift Chair

At approximately 1:00 p.m. on August 13, 1997, Employee #1 was working at Sundance Ski Resort. He loaded his trail bike on a ski lift to head back to the base of the mountain. The next chair to come by had a bungee cord that had come undone. He grabbed the bottom of the chair with one hand and tried to connect the bungee cord with the other. By the time he had the cord connected, he was too high to let go. While trying to pull himself up into the chair, he lost his grip and fell 43 ft to the ground. He sustained injuries that required hospitalization.

chair, work rules, fall, skiing

Accident: 170572150 - Bruised In Fall From Bosun Chair

Employee #1, a window washer for a small, 4-employee window cleaning company, was washing windows from a boatswain's chair suspended at the 10th floor of an office building. One strap of the chair became unhooked and Employee #1 fell. He was caught by his lifeline, and a coworker, his supervisor, repelled down, grabbed him, and descended with him to the 2nd floor level. Employee #1 then unlocked and detached his lanyard from the safety harness and jumped to the ground. A pedestrian broke Employee #1's fall, and the employee was taken to the hospital for treatment of bruises. When this report was written, he had not been seen or heard from by anyone interviewed. Subsequent inspection revealed that Employee #1 was using a double non-locking hasp attachment to attach the rappel line to the chair. Neither his coworkers nor his employer knew the origin of the hasp. It was not standard equipment and was not necessary, since a locking D-ring was also being used in the chair setup.

fall, bosun chair, window washer, contusion, unsecured, work rules, elevated work plat, two pt susp scaffold

Accident: 201090370 - Fractures Wrist In Same-Level Fall

At approximately 3:30 a.m. on November 25, 1996, Employee #1 was walking by a chair at the French Hospital Medical Center and tripped over the front leg. She fractured her left wrist and was hospitalized for more than 36 hours. No citations were issued.

wrist, fall, chair, inattention, tripped, fracture

Accident: 170807234 - Injured In Fall From Suspended Platform

Employee #1 was on a suspended platform, painting a support beam beneath a bridge. He stepped backward and fell from the platform's western edge. Employee #1 sustained injuries that required hospitalization.

bosun chair, walking backward, construction, maintenance, fall, fall protection, work rules, elevated work plat, guardrail

Accident: 201030202 - Toe Injured By Wheel Of Chair, Later Amputated

On May 15, 1996, Employee #1, who worked in the procurement office of an aircraft manufacturer, was standing behind the desk chair of a coworker who was showing him how to do something on her computer. After demonstrating, the coworker told Employee #1 to try it for himself, and pushed her desk chair back to allow him to sit down. As the chair rolled back, one of the casters on the five-legged, ergonomic chair rolled over Employee #1 right shoe, in the vicinity of his little toe. Although Employee #1 is an insulin-dependent diabetic, he did not seek medical attention that day. His toe became infected and on May 30, 1996 it had to be surgically removed. The perimeter of the wheels of the desk chair were covered by wheel fenders.

toe, chair, struck by, run over, communication, infectious disease, amputated

Accident: 200900017 - Killed In Fall From Steeple

At approximately 8:35 a.m. on April 25, 1996, Employee #1 and a coworker were working on a steeple. Employee #1 was at a height of approximately 185 ft , and his coworker was at ground level. Employee #1 had unhooked his lifeline and crossed over a material bucket and a ladder to readjust an additional rigging that was to be used by another coworker. After completing this task and returning to his original position, he asked help from his coworker in continuing to move upward. After approximately two pulls, the rope broke and Employee #1 fell, striking the coping at the base of the steeple. He then fell an additional 150 ft, landing onto a covered pedestrian walkway. He partially broke through the covered walkway and was pulled to the ground by his coworker. Employee #1 sustained massive head and internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. He had not reattached to his lifeline before starting to ascend again. The pulley system was composed of 1/2 in. diameter manila rope and two #6 pulley blocks attached to a boatswain's chair.

rope, bosun chair, fall, struck against, head, lifeline, equipment failure, fall protection, pulley, hoist

Accident: 897769 - Window Washer Killed In Fall From Building

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on December 13, 1995, Employee #1 was preparing to wash windows from a boatswain's chair. He had rigged up his rappelling equipment and lifeline and had placed them over the side of a 14-story condominium building. He did not, however, connect to his lifeline when he went over the parapet wall and he did not fully engage the eye of his rappel rack into his locking type D-ring. As a result, Employee #1 fell to the ground and was killed.

fall, work rules, lifeline, window washer, hoisting mechanism, fall protection, bosun chair

Accident: 170376776 - Injured In Fall From Ninth Story Roof

On July 31, 1995, Employee #1, a window washer for WWC Window Cleaning, was using a boatswain's chair on the roof of a nine-story building without a separate safety line. He fell while attempting to attach the descent device to the working rope from a seated position with his legs over the side. Employee #1 is unsure of exactly what precipitated his fall, but surmises that the latch for the descent device was not properly secured. While he was falling, entangled in the boatswain's chair, Employee #1 grabbed the working rope in his hands and held on, slowing his fall until the pain became too intense to continue holding. He free-fell the remaining two stories, landed on a row of plastic garbage cans that broke his fall, then fell to the pavement. He sustained third-degree rope burns to both hands, bruising of his right shoulder/back, and a lacerated left knee. He was taken by campus police to Alta Bates Hospital, where he received skin grafts, and was released on August 11, 1995.

fall, rope, hand, work rules, window washer, burn, abrasion, unsecured, lifeline, bosun chair

Accident: 170708903 - Injured In Backward Fall From Chair

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on June 22, 1995, Employee #1 was sitting in a four-wheel office type chair. This was not the chair that he normally used and the chair back was adjusted further back than he was used to. As he leaned back in the chair, he fell over backwards. Employee #1 was taken to the hospital, where he stayed about 2 1/2 hours. No serious injury resulted. No citations were issued.

chair, fall

Accident: 171020191 - Dies In Fall With Boatswain'S Chair

On June 6, 1995, Employee #1, of Modern Window Cleaning Co., was attempting to enter a boatswain's chair scaffold. The scaffold did not have extensions to the boom or counterweights. He was not wearing a safety belt and lifeline. The scaffold and the employee fell approximately 50 feet, causing fatal injuries. Two citations were issued for serious violations of 0529(3) and 0541(1).

bosun chair, fall, scaffold, scaffold collapse, fall protection, counterbalance, window washer, work rules