Accident: 126081330 - Injured While Fighting Fire

At approximately 2:15 a.m. on October 29, 2000, Employee #1, a Los Angeles County fire captain with 23 years of experience, and three coworkers were fighting a fire that had started at approximately 1:30 a.m. at a glass retailer in Whittier, CA. The crew entered the building from the front, which had not yet burned, and were wetting the areas before them as they advanced into the burning building. A coworker was between 2 and 3 ft away from Employee #1, helping him hose down small fires. The coworker glanced at Employee #1 every 20 to 30 seconds to maintain eye contact, and then saw that he had fallen through the floor and into the basement. Employee #1 sustained second- and third-degree burns on his chest, back, and legs, and soft tissue injuries to his back; he also suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning and lactic acidosis. These injuries resulted from exposure to the fire, smoke inhalation, and the fall through the floor into the basement. Apparently, the men had advanced along a walkway to an attached house. Employee #1 later stated that he thought he was standing on ground level and did not realize there was a basement. Normal procedures call for sounding roofs only. Employee #1 did not sound the floor and thought he was on solid ground. Apparently the floor was suffering from dry rot. The fire department's investigation indicated that the floor had collapsed from beneath Employee #1. Further investigation revealed that the ground sloped down from the front of the building, a fact that was not readily apparent from the street or from the front of the building.

fire, fire fighter, burn, smoke inhalation, work surface, collapse, carbon monoxide, back, fall

Accident: 14222632 - Killed In Trench Cave-In

At approximately 2:10 p.m. on July 1, 2000, Employee #1 was in an open, approximately 7 to 8 ft deep by 2 ft 10 in. wide by approximately 30 ft long trench. The excavation caved I, burying Employee #1. He died of asphyxia. The soil was gumbo wet, and the trench had no sloping, shoring, and trench box. In addition, there was soil piled at the edge of the hole, and no means of egress had been provided.

construction, trench, sloping, trench box, shoring, work rules, collapse, buried, unstable soil, asphyxiated

Accident: 656389 - Two Injured When Roof Collapses

Employees #1 and #2 were setting up for work at the start of the day. They were under an existing roof that had had new supporting walls installed when the roof collapsed on top of them. Employees #1 and #2 sustained bruises and contusions, but neither required hospitalization.

roof collapse, construction, roof, collapse, falling object

Accident: 170010078 - One Killed, One Injured In Trench Cave-In

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on May 7, 2000, Employees #1 and #2, were working in a 15 ft wide trench. Employee #1 was checking the grade prior to installing a 10 in. diameter drainage pipe. The nearly vertical trench walls were approximately 15 ft tall on the east side and 17 ft tall on the west side, with an additional 8 ft of spoils on the west side. A portion of the east wall collapsed, burying Employee #1 up to his waist and pinning him against the west wall. He was killed. Employee #2 had been operating the backhoe most of the day; he sustained injuries that required hospitalization.

trench, cave-in, collapse, construction, buried, sloping, work rules, installing, unstable surface

Accident: 170205926 - Thirteen Injured When Temporary Platform Collapses

At approximately 8:45 a.m. on April 12, 2000, Employees #1 through #13, all carpenters, were raising and pivoting a 14 ft wide by 20 ft tall wall on the third floor of a building. Prior to beginning the lift, they had covered an elevator shaft with a temporary platform. As the wall was being raised, the employees walked toward and eventually onto the temporary platform. It collapsed, and they fell 9 ft to the second floor. Employees #1 through #13 sustained various injuries, including broken ribs, sprains, and bruises; Employee #10 was hospitalized.

construction, carpenter, elevator shaft, elevated work plat, work platform, fall, work rules, overloaded, collapse, fracture