Construction Injury Newsroom

Drywall Mechanic Died In Fall

A 20-year-old male drywall mechanic died of injuries sustained in a 10-foot fall from an open-sided second floor landing on February 22, 1994. On April 21, 1994, officials of the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration (SCOSHA) notified the Division of Safety Research (DSR) of this fatality, and requested technical assistance. On May 18, 1994, a safety specialist from DSR investigated and reviewed the incident with the subcontractor on the job and the SCOSHA compliance officer assigned to the case. The county coroner's report was obtained during the investigation.

The employer had been in business for about 15 years and employed four workers, three of whom were drywall mechanics. The employer had no written safety program or procedures; however, 2 or 3 days prior to the incident the contractor and subcontractor walked through the jobsite (no guard rails were present at that time). Training was provided on the job, and personal protective equipment was not required by the employer. The day of the incident was the victim's first day back on the job after a 6-month layoff. This was the first fatality experienced by the employer.

The jobsite was located at a housing subdivision which consisted of single family homes in various stages of construction. The general contractor had sub-contracted much of the work to various other contractors. At this particular jobsite, the frame carpenter crew, trim carpenters, and the dry wall suppliers had been sub-contracted. The dry wall supplier had sub-contracted the hanging and finishing of sheetrock to the employer of the victim. Two or 3 days prior to the incident, the employer had conducted a walk through inspection of the house with the drywall supplier. At that time, the second floor landing and hallway were seen not to have any guardrails present. Guardrailing had been installed during the framing phase of construction, but had subsequently been removed to allow the movement of supplies (e.g., doors, windows, sheetrock, etc.), from the ground floor to the second floor level. The crew, with the exception of the victim, had been working at the jobsite for 1 week prior to the incident. This was the victim's first day back to work after a 6-month layoff.

On the day of the incident, the crew arrived at the jobsite around 8 a.m. to finish sanding the sheetrock. Two employees were assigned to work in the garage, and the victim and his co-worker were assigned to sand sheetrock in the house at the second floor level. The co-worker was sanding sheetrock inside a closet, while the victim was sanding the ceiling above the second floor landing. About 10:30 a.m., a trim carpenter who was nailing windows in a different area on the second floor ran out of nails. As he was going down the stairway he saw the victim step/fall off the open-sided area of the second floor landing. Apparently the victim was unaware of his position in relation to the open-sided floor and stepped or fell off the unguarded open-sided floor landing. The victim fell about 10 feet, striking the concrete floor face first. The carpenter ran to inform his foreman as to what had occurred and the foreman called 911. The EMS arrived in less than 10 minutes and stabilized and transported the victim to the local hospital, where he died 20 days later.