Abstract
On a fall day in 2010, a 49 year-old steel worker fell from a highway bridge he was working from and died. The steel worker was in the process of leveling jacks for concrete forms. He had donned a fall protection harness with an attached lanyard then stepped outside the lifeline onto a 10”x2” wooden board to verify the jacks were level. As the steel worker stepped over the lifeline, he did not attach the lanyard and fell approximately 28 feet onto the railroad tracks below. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died in surgery approximately two hours later.
To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made:
Recommendation No. 1: A safety analysis should be performed by a Competent person at each job site before work commences.
Recommendation No. 2: Employers should ensure all employees use personal fall arrest systems correctly.
Recommendation No. 3: Employers should implement and enforce a written safety policy which states the consequences of not following personal fall arrest policy.
Recommendation No.4: General contractors should ensure through contract language that all subcontractors implement and enforce appropriate safety and health programs and training specific to the work to be performed.
Recommendation No. 5: Small business owners should institute and enforce drug testing policies.
Document Type
Report
Release Date
3-30-2012
Incident Number
10KY043 Revised
Repository Citation
Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, "Steel Worker Falls from Highway Bridge and Dies" (2012). Fatality Case Reports--Falls. 2.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/face_falls_reports/2
Case Summary
Included in
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
Notes/Citation Information
A summary of this case is available as the additional file listed below.