Date of incident: May 2020
Notice of incident number: 2020182500003
Employer: Siding installation company; wood-frame construction company

Incident summary
At a condominium construction site, a worker was installing siding on the exterior of a four‑storey building. The worker was standing on a ladder placed on a 2×10 toe‑hold and secured by two roof jacks. The worker slipped and fell, along with the ladder assembly, approximately 11 m (37 ft.) to the ground below. The worker was seriously injured and later died from his injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Inadequate fall protection system. The worker, who was wearing a fall protection harness, was tied off to a self‑retracting lifeline that was attached to the ladder. An appropriate fall protection anchor was not located on the rooftop deck for the worker to tie off to as part of an appropriate fall protection system.

Contributing factors

• Inadequate fall protection plan. The site‑specific fall protection plan did not fully identify hazards associated with the siding‑related work that the worker was doing at the time of the incident, and did not meet the requirements outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. The plan did not contain any work procedures or instructions for workers on when or how to use the appropriate fall protection system (fall arrest, fall restraint, or engineering controls), including anchors. Nor did the plan include photographs or drawings of the building’s roof, including anchor layout.
• Inadequate training and instruction. The employer failed to provide the worker with the training and instruction necessary to safely perform the task of installing siding. The training provided did not include verification of the proper use and inspection of the equipment. The instruction provided was not specific to the area where the risk of falling existed at the worksite and did not include the particular work procedures to be used.
• Inadequate coordination of work activities. As the prime contractor, the construction company failed to do everything that is reasonably practicable to establish and maintain a system or process to ensure compliance with the Workers Compensation Act and the Regulation. The prime contractor failed to review and approve the siding installation company’s site‑specific fall protection plan. It also failed to ensure that suitable control measures for the siding‑related work were implemented, such as having an appropriate fall protection anchor installed on the rooftop deck.

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