Backward Step Leads to Fall

Employees working for a plumbing contractor were hoisting pipes up from ground level to higher levels for storage. They were standing on structural steel while they transferred the pipes to the floor above. One employee walked backward off the end of a section of stored pipe. He fell about 12 feet (3.66 meters) to the concrete floor, suffering a fatal head injury.

Several safeguards were missing in the work situation leading to this fatal fall. A securely-anchored safety harness and lifeline would have caught a worker starting to fall. A solidly-planked scaffold floor and railing would have provided a safer walking surface. A crane used properly to hoist materials would have kept the workers out of this hazardous situation.

Do you follow all safety precautions for working at heights?