NIOSH Case Reports Outlined

Case 3- Fall through a fiberglass roof panel during snow removal
A 62-year-old farmer died from injuries sustained when he fell through a corrugated fiberglass panel used on the roof of a pole barn to let light into the building. On the day of the incident, the farmer drove a tractor equipped with a front-end loader bucket to climb onto the roof. He walked up the slope of the roof until he reached a rope tied into the roof vent. Evidence suggests that he held the rope in one hand as he pushed snow off the rood. He stepped onto a snow-covered 3×10-foot corrugated fiberglass panel that broke, causing him to fall approximately 16 feet to the concrete floor below. The fiberglass panel had not been guarded or marked with a warning to indicate that it covered a hole.
Case 4- Fall through a roof opening after a cover was unsecured during construction.
A 27-year old carpenter died when he fell through a roof opening to a concrete floor 13 feet below after partially unsecuring a sheet of plywood used to cover the opening. Nails had been removed from one side of a 4 by 8 sheet of 5/8-inch plywood that was placed of a 37 by 67 inch roof opening for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning unit. Evidence suggests that the victim removed nails from one side of the plywood cover so that he could drop an electric cord to the floor below, where power outlets were available. He apparently knelt down and leaned into the opening with the plywood resting on his back to look for someone below who would plug the cord into an electrical outlet. While kneeling, the victim either lost his balance or the weight of the plywood caused him to fall headfirst through the opening.

Case 5- Fall through a skylight during roofing repair
A 14-year-old male laborer died from injuries he sustained when he fell through the lens of a 56 x 24-inch, curb-mounted skylight to a concrete floor approximately 12 feet below. Along with several other day laborers, the victim and his 16-year-old brother had been hired by a roofing contractor on the day of the incident to pull up and remove built-up roofing materials from the flat roof of a one-story wholesale florist shop. The victim has been working for approximately 15 minutes pulling up roofing materials by hand when he fell back onto a skylight lens that broke under his weight. The skylight did not have a protective screen, cover or guarding around it, and the lens was not marked with a warning against sitting or stepping on it. The employer had assigned the victim and his brother to roofing work in violation of HO16.