Construction Fatality Narrative: Roofer Falls 18 Feet from Wet House Roof
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program Reports
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program and State FACE Programs study fatal workplace injuries and prepare reports with recommendations to prevent similar injuries. The following are links to all of the items in this collection:
Documents
- Kentucky FACE Report: Commercial Roofer Falls 30 Feet Through a Skylight While Installing Roof Insulation
- Fatal Occupational Injuries in Massachusetts 2008-2013
- Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
- Washington FACE Report: Glazier Foreman Falls From Stepladder
- Preventing Construction Falls Toolkit
- Hazard Alert: Pedestrian Workers Killed by Forklifts
- Keep Employees in Motor Vehicles Safe
- New York FACE Brochure
- Washington FACE Report: Construction Laborer Falls When Ladder Breaks
- Washington FACE Report: Pipelayer Dies when Trench Wall Collapses
- Washington FACE Report: Carpenter Falls 60 Feet from Bridge Concrete Form
- Washington FACE Report: Foreman and Laborer Fall when Aerial Lift Struck by Vehicle
- Washington FACE Report: Framer Falls 18 Feet while Sheathing Roof
- New York FACE Report: Mechanic Electrocuted when a Mobile Light Tower Contacted Powerline
- New York FACE Report: Two Construction Workers Fatally Crushed when Cement Formwork Collapsed
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Laborer Killed in Trench Collapse while Taking Grade Measurements
- California FACE Report: A Heating, Ventilaton and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Contractor Dies when He Falls through a Skylight
- Massachusetts FACE Report: Carpenter Fatally Injured after Falling from an Extension Ladder
- Massachusetts FACE Report: Laborer Fatally Injured after Falling from a Home under Construction
- Oregon FACE Report: Worker Falls When Ladder Slips
- Michigan FACE Information Sheet: Look for Mobile Equipment Blind Spots
- Oregon FACE Report: Collapsed roof trusses kill carpenter foreman
- Washington FACE Report: Roofer Falls 19 Feet from Roof
- Hazard Alert: Plan. Provide. Train. Prevent Fall Injuries & Deaths
- Kentucky FACE Report: 19-Year-Old Construction Laborer Crushed in Trench Collapse While Laying Sewage Pipe
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Flagger Struck and Killed in Two-Lane Highway Work Zone
- Kentucky FACE Report:Temporary Electrician Helper Steps into Unguarded Elevator Shaft and Dies
- Fatality Narrative: Roofing Contractor Falls 25 Feet From Church Roof
- Kentucky FACE Report: Construction Siding Subcontractor Installer Killed when Oversized Scaffolding Platform Destabilized and Telescopic Forklift Overturned
- NIOSH FACE Report - Maintenance Worker Struck by Forklift Carriage—Tennessee
- Kentucky Hazard Alert: Roofing and Construction Workers Killed Due to High Winds
- Poster: Secure it to move it!
- Oregon FACE Report: Crane Operator Killed By Falling Steel Beam
- New Jersey FACE Report: Mechanic Dies After Being Crushed Under Electrical Cabinet
- New Jersey FACE Report: Plant Manager Crushed to Death Under Fallen Pile of Steel Beams
- NIOSH FACE Report: Hispanic worker falls from residential roof
- Oregon FACE Report: Construction worker died after falling 20-25 feet from a pump-jack scaffold
- FACE Fact Sheet: Prevent Construction Falls from Roofs, Ladders, and Scaffolds
- Construction Fatality Narrative: Roofer Falls 18 Feet from Wet House Roof
- Construction Worker Killed when Trench Collapsed, Oregon
- A Tree Trimmer is Electrocuted While Trimming a Palm Tree
- A Tree Feller Dies When Struck By a Tree Limb While Felling a Fire-Damaged Tree
- Concrete Finisher Electrocuted When Bull Float Contacted an Energized Power Line
- Warehouse Worker Crushed by Forks of Laser Guided Vehicle
Summary Statement
A 50-year-old roofer died when he fell 18 feet from a house roof.
He had 20 years of experience as a roofer and had worked for his employer’s roofing company for two years.
He was part of a three-person crew installing a metal roof on a two-story house. Shortly after 8 a.m., the crew was setting up for the day. This was their third day at the work site. The company owner had not yet arrived.
A light rain was falling. The victim, wearing a harness, climbed up a ladder and went onto the steep slope 8/12 pitch roof. He walked
horizontally along the roof for about 25 feet. No one else was on the roof.
The crew supervisor was below in the yard. After a few minutes, the supervisor called to the victim, but got no answer. He went looking for him and found him unconscious lying on a concrete patio. The other roofer stayed with the victim while the supervisor called 911. Emergency responders arrived after a few minutes. The victim died while being transported by ambulance.
The medical examiner gave the cause of death as “multiple blunt force injuries” resulting from a fall from the roof.
The state investigator found that the victim’s rope grab lifeline was attached to a roof anchor, but he was not tied off to it when he slid on the wet roof underlayment and fell off the roof edge.
April 2019
Incident Facts
REPORT #: 71-178-2019
REPORT DATE: February 21, 2019
INCIDENT DATE: March 8, 2018
VICTIM: 50 years old
INDUSTRY: Roofing contractors
SCENE: Two-story, single-family residence
EVENT TYPE: Fall
Requirements
Recommendations
FACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences:
- Always use fall protection during roofing operations.
Resources
Roofing work, Washington State Dept. of Labor and Industries. www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Topics/AtoZ/RoofingWork
Roofing safety, OSHA. www.osha.gov/pls/publications/publication.athruz?pType=Industry&pID=548
Eight workers in the roofing contractors industry died in falls in the past five years.
For a PDF formatted as a slideshow, click here.
This narrative is an alert about the tragic loss of life of a worker and is based on preliminary data ONLY and does not represent final determinations regarding the nature of the incident or the cause of the fatality. Developed by WA State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), WA State Dept. of Labor & Industries. The FACE Program is supported in part by a grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH grant# 5U60OH008487). For more information visit www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Research/FACE.
