Photos: NIOSH
Case report: #71-266-2025*
Issued by: Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program
Date of report: May 1, 2025
A 29-year-old roofer was on a crew installing roofing insulation and skylights on a large industrial building. He had worked for his employer for 16 months. Another contractor’s framing crew hand-signaled the roofer and his co-worker to carry a skylight lid to cover a hole. The roofers selected an unsecured, approximately 4-by-8-foot lid and lifted it at opposite ends. They had taken a half-step forward when the co-worker heard the roofer’s end drop. He looked back but did not see the roofer, who had fallen 45 feet through a hole they did not know was under the lid. The co-worker and his foreman ran downstairs and found the roofer unresponsive. Several workers who saw him fall called 911 and began CPR. First responders arrived but could not save him. Investigators found that the roofers were not experienced or trained in skylight installation. They also found that visibility on the roof was impacted by bundles of insulation; the roofers were not using fall protection within warning lines where skylight holes were present; and a boom lift basket, which had been moved from below the hole before the fall occurred, was being used as a fall-catch platform. This practice was against the manufacturer’s safety guidelines and state fall protection rules. The employer and crew lacked understanding of state fall protection requirements for skylight holes, and the employer’s fall protection work plan did not identify skylight holes as fall hazards.
To prevent similar occurrences, employers should:
- Provide fall protection guardrails, screens, covers, warning lines, safety nets or personal fall protection systems for roofers working around skylights and openings, and keep the area organized.
- Arrive onsite before work begins or appoint a supervisor to conduct a site hazard assessment with workers to identify fall hazards and develop protection methods and procedures in the fall protection work plan.
- During the pre-job safety meeting, review the site hazard assessment and FPWP and emphasize workers’ responsibilities to follow fall protection and roof and skylight safety requirements.
McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.
Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication