Fatality Narrative: Roofing Contractor Falls 25 Feet From Church Roof
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program Reports
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program and State FACE Programs study fatal workplace injuries and prepare reports with recommendations to prevent similar injuries. The following are links to all of the items in this collection:
Documents
- Kentucky FACE Report: Commercial Roofer Falls 30 Feet Through a Skylight While Installing Roof Insulation
- Fatal Occupational Injuries in Massachusetts 2008-2013
- Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
- Washington FACE Report: Glazier Foreman Falls From Stepladder
- Preventing Construction Falls Toolkit
- Hazard Alert: Pedestrian Workers Killed by Forklifts
- Keep Employees in Motor Vehicles Safe
- New York FACE Brochure
- Washington FACE Report: Construction Laborer Falls When Ladder Breaks
- Washington FACE Report: Pipelayer Dies when Trench Wall Collapses
- Washington FACE Report: Carpenter Falls 60 Feet from Bridge Concrete Form
- Washington FACE Report: Foreman and Laborer Fall when Aerial Lift Struck by Vehicle
- Washington FACE Report: Framer Falls 18 Feet while Sheathing Roof
- New York FACE Report: Mechanic Electrocuted when a Mobile Light Tower Contacted Powerline
- New York FACE Report: Two Construction Workers Fatally Crushed when Cement Formwork Collapsed
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Laborer Killed in Trench Collapse while Taking Grade Measurements
- California FACE Report: A Heating, Ventilaton and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Contractor Dies when He Falls through a Skylight
- Massachusetts FACE Report: Carpenter Fatally Injured after Falling from an Extension Ladder
- Massachusetts FACE Report: Laborer Fatally Injured after Falling from a Home under Construction
- Oregon FACE Report: Worker Falls When Ladder Slips
- Michigan FACE Information Sheet: Look for Mobile Equipment Blind Spots
- Oregon FACE Report: Collapsed roof trusses kill carpenter foreman
- Washington FACE Report: Roofer Falls 19 Feet from Roof
- Hazard Alert: Plan. Provide. Train. Prevent Fall Injuries & Deaths
- Kentucky FACE Report: 19-Year-Old Construction Laborer Crushed in Trench Collapse While Laying Sewage Pipe
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Flagger Struck and Killed in Two-Lane Highway Work Zone
- Kentucky FACE Report:Temporary Electrician Helper Steps into Unguarded Elevator Shaft and Dies
- Fatality Narrative: Roofing Contractor Falls 25 Feet From Church Roof
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Siding Subcontractor Installer Killed when Oversized Scaffolding Platform Destabilized and Telescopic Forklift Overturned
- NIOSH FACE Report - Maintenance Worker Struck by Forklift Carriage—Tennessee
- Kentucky Hazard Alert: Roofing and Construction Workers Killed Due to High Winds
- Poster: Secure it to move it!
- Oregon FACE Report: Crane Operator Killed By Falling Steel Beam
- New Jersey FACE Report: Mechanic Dies After Being Crushed Under Electrical Cabinet
- New Jersey FACE Report: Plant Manager Crushed to Death Under Fallen Pile of Steel Beams
- NIOSH FACE Report: Hispanic worker falls from residential roof
- Oregon FACE Report: Construction worker died after falling 20-25 feet from a pump-jack scaffold
- FACE Fact Sheet: Prevent Construction Falls from Roofs, Ladders, and Scaffolds
- Construction Fatality Narrative: Roofer Falls 18 Feet from Wet House Roof
- Construction Worker Killed when Trench Collapsed, Oregon
- A Tree Trimmer is Electrocuted While Trimming a Palm Tree
- A Tree Feller Dies When Struck By a Tree Limb While Felling a Fire-Damaged Tree
- Concrete Finisher Electrocuted When Bull Float Contacted an Energized Power Line
- Warehouse Worker Crushed by Forks of Laser Guided Vehicle
Summary Statement
The Washington FACE program developed this pdf of a slide show that describes a fatality narrative of a roofing contractor who fell 25 feet from a church roof. After providing the details of the incident, the it presents requirements related to planning, providing, and training employees to avoid similar incidents. It also provides links to two additional resources.
2015
Incident scene showing the location where a
roofing contractor
who was not using fall protection fell from the roof of a church
25 feet to a concrete sidewalk.
Industry: Roofing Contractors
Task: Nailing down roofing materials
Occupation: Roofing contractor
Type of Incident: Fall from roof
Incident Date: September 9, 2015
Release Date: October 6, 2016
SHARP Report No.: 71-151-2016
The victim was a co-owner of a father and son roofing company. He and his father were subcontracted to complete a roof on a newly constructed church. Both were experienced roofers. They had been working on the site for about a week.
On the day of the incident, the weather was sunny and warm. They were the only workers at the site, and both were working on the roof. It was a low pitch roof with a 1 in 12 slope. The victim was working on the edge of the roof nailing down roofing materials. Neither of the roofers was using fall protection, nor was there any in place on the roof or on site. The father looked up from his work and did not see his son on the roof. He went to the side of the roof where his son had been and looked down. His son was lying on the sidewalk below, bleeding. He had fallen 25 feet from the roof edge.
The father attempted CPR and then called 911. First responders arrived and, after attempting further CPR, declared the victim deceased.
REQUIREMENTS
Plan.
Develop and implement a written fall protection work plan that includes each area of the work place where employees are assigned and where hazards of ten feet or more exist.
Provide.
Ensure that the appropriate fall protection system is provided, installed, and implemented when employees are exposed to fall hazards of 10 feet or more to the ground or lower level while engaged in roofing work on a low pitched roof. A low pitched roof has a slope equal to or less than 4 in 12.
Train.
Prior to permitting employees into areas where fall hazards exist you must ensure employees are trained and instructed in the items described in the fall protection work plan.
Incident scene shoing the church roof edge from which the
victim fell 25 feet to the sidewalk.
RECOMMENDATION
Under specific circumstances, business owner/operators may be exempt from workplace regulations, as was the case in this incident. However, they are advised to follow safe work practices.
RESOURCES
- Roofing Work. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Topics/AtoZ/RoofingWork/ - Protecting Roofing Workers. OSHA
www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3755.pdf
This bulletin was developed to alert employers and employees of a tragic loss of life of a worker in Washington State and is based on preliminary data ONLY and does not represent final determinations regarding the nature of the incident or conclusions regarding the cause of the fatality.
Developed by Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries. The FACE Program is supported in part by a grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH grant# 2U60OH008487-11). For more information, contact the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, 1-888-667-4277.
