It’s a Long Way Baby; from That Beam to the Ground Floor

IT’S A LONG WAY BABY; FROM THAT BEAM TO THE GROUND FLOOR

IT’S A LONG WAY BABY; FROM THAT BEAM TO THE GROUND FLOOR

BOS- 3401 Construction Safety

I. Introduction

While many construction accidents have had a decrease since early 1900’s, Falls in construction have increased.

During new construction of a Cold Storage Warehouse, a 42 year old ironworker foreman lost his life by falling 38 feet to the groundfloor. The final steel bar joist was being installed when the structural iron worker foreman noticed that the beam was not straight. The worker decided to use a hammer to fix it. To reach the beam, the worker removed the barricaids on all four sides. He also removed the rope safety lines. Fall protection was not found on the worker or near the site. It was a stretch for him to reach the joist with his hammer and he placed one foot on a girder with an undecked roof while the other tip toe was on the platform. When he struck the beam with the hammer he lost his footing and fell. He was able to catch the beam with his hands but lost his grip and fell to his death. (1).

One can read about the accident and see signs that spelled distaster. The same is true for most of the accidents I reviewed for this project, but there is a big difference between reading at my desk and being the experienced man on the beam that made a deadly choice. This deadly accident happened to a foreman who would have had experience and training in his craft. No fall protection was found on the foreman or near his work area. He had removed barricades and safety lines. He stretched his body limbs to a point of no stability. This was the last beem to be installed, and like on the majority of work sites, there was most likely a rush to finish the project, there were probable staffing issues, and there was a worker willing to take shortcuts.

The Human Factors Theory of Accident Causation (Goetsch 2010. pp. 28-29) allows us to view the possibilities of Overload, Inappropriate...