Date of incident: June 2015
Notice of incident number: 2015175370027
Employer: Window cleaning company

Incident summary
A window cleaner was cleaning gutters from a roof approximately 9 m (30 ft.) high. He was not using appropriate fall protection equipment and sustained serious injuries when he fell from the roof.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Inadequate fall protection. Evidence at the scene indicated that the worker was connected to a vertical lifeline that was too long to be effective. The vertical lifeline did not meet the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. An automatic rope grab for fall arrest, which is needed to meet the requirements of CSA Standard Z259.2.1, Fall Arresters, Vertical Lifelines, and Rails, was also not in use. As a result, the worker fell approximately 9 m (30 ft.) from the gutter area of the roof he was working on.

Contributing factors

• Deficient fall protection plan. The employer’s fall protection plan and safe work procedures didn’t meet the requirements of the Regulation. The assessment for the hazards and the fall protection to be used was inadequate. The plan did not specify the fall hazards expected or the procedures to assemble, maintain, inspect, use, and disassemble the fall protection system or the anchors. The plan also did not specify the procedures for rescue of a worker who has fallen.
• No supervision of the work. No supervisors were at the worksite at the time of the incident to oversee the set-up of the intended fall protection system. The employer was not aware of the fall protection system that was in use and did not ensure that its workers were made aware of all known or reasonably foreseeable health or safety hazards in the area where they were working.

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