Laborer Fatally Injured After Falling from a Home Under Construction – Massachusetts

SUMMARY

On January 14, 2016 a 22-year-old male laborer/carpenter (victim) employed by a residential contractor was fatally injured after falling from a single family house under construction. While on the top plate of a studded exterior second story wall, the victim lost his balance and fell approximately 24 feet to the frozen ground below. The fall was not witnessed by any of the co-workers onsite, but the site foreman heard a noise and while trying to determine what the noise was he found the victim on the ground. The site foreman placed a call for emergency medical services (EMS). EMS and local police and state police arrived within minutes. The victim was med-flighted to a regional trauma center where he was in the intensive care unit and was pronounced dead the next day.

Contributing factors identified in this investigation included: employees were not protected from fall hazards and employees were not provided training.

Laborer Fatally Injured After Falling from a Home Under Construction – Massachusetts [PDF 426 KB]