A painting contractor’s crew was sandblasting and painting the inside of a riser under a water tower. One worker was spray-painting from a fixed ladder 40 feet (12 meters) above the floor of the riser. He was wearing no fall arrest equipment. Apparently he slipped, falling to the floor of the riser and further through an opening of the floor to a standpipe. He was killed in the fall.

Investigators learned that although the employer had a safety and health program and a safety manager on site, the employee had not been trained. After three years of experience, including three months on this job, he died because he was not wearing the safety harness, lanyard and lifeline that would have saved him.