David Jones: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Apr 16, 1998 (fatal): Employee killed in fall when scaffold overturns

At approximately 11:40 a.m. on April 16, 1998, Employee #1, a painter, was worki ng from a 12 ft wooden straight ladder that was positioned atop a 13 ft tall by 5 ft wide mobile scaffold. He was painting the second-floor window frames and co rnice on a two-story house, which were between 17 ft 4 in. and 25 ft 10 in. abov e the ground. The scaffold's frames were 30 in. out from the house's front wall. A log planter, which measured 80 5/8 in. long by 19 in. wide by 19 in. deep and was placed 10 1/4 in. out from the front of the house and kept the scaffold fro m moving closer to the house's front wall. The work platform where the ladder wa s positioned was planked by three 2 in. by 10 in. by approximately 8 ft long boa rds, placed side by side along the scaffold's length toward the scaffold's outer edge. In addition to rubber safety feet, a 2 in. by 3 in. block nailed to one o f the planks held the base of the ladder in place, approximately 6 ft out from t he front wall of the house. The innermost scaffold plank was between 62 and 67 i n. out from the wall, leaving a gap of 31 1/2 in. in the work platform. After er ecting the scaffold for Employee #1 to work from, the proprietor temporarily lef t the job site. While he was gone, the ladder from which Employee #1 was working kicked out at its base, causing the scaffold to topple. He fell about 20 ft ont o the sidewalk, striking his head as he landed. He was transported to the Maryla nd Shock Trauma Center, where he died on April 24, 1998. The three planks that f ormed the work platform and the block for the ladder's feet were of nominal meas ure.