Date of incident: March 2022
Notice of incident number: 2022188410005
Employer: Roofing firm

Incident summary
A worker supervising a crew was attempting to deconstruct an elevated deck on a two-storey single-family residence. The supervisor fell from the deck approximately 3.7 m (12 ft.) to a concrete patio below, sustaining serious injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Supervisor fell from deck due to lack of fall protection. The supervisor lost his balance and, because he was not using fall protection equipment, fell to the ground.

Contributing factors

• No fall protection plan. The roof and deck of the house were in excess of 7.5 m (25 ft.) high. The employer had not ensured that a fall protection plan was in place, even though both a plan and fall protection equipment were required for work at such a height.
• No training in fall protection. The employer did not ensure that all the workers including the supervisor had fall protection training as required.
• Inadequate supervision. The employer failed to provide adequate supervision to workers on site. It did not ensure a fall protection system was in place and did not ensure a fall protection plan was developed and implemented for the work at height to protect workers from fall hazards.

Other health and safety issues

• Lack of demolition plan. The employer did not develop a demolition plan for disassembling the deck, thus exposing workers to fall hazards without effective controls being implemented to prevent falls.
• Lack of health and safety program. The employer lacked an occupational health and safety program, including such elements as safe work procedures for the deconstruction of the deck and inspections of work methods and fall protection equipment.

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