Roof Man Dies When He Falls from the Roof of a Two-Story House While Applying a Tent for Fumigation.

A 33-year-old Hispanic roof man died after he fell approximately 25 feet from the roof of a two-story house to the ground below. The victim was carrying a tarp to cover the roof when the incident occurred. The employer of the victim did not have a fall prevention program for their employees, and the victim was not wearing any personal fall protection device. The CA/FACE investigator determined that:

Structural fumigation companies should establish and implement a fall protection program for employees who work on roofs.

INVESTIGATION

In the process of structural fumigation, heavy-duty gauge plastic tarps are used to cover the structure prior to fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride gas. The tarps must be placed and secured on the roof of the structure by work crews. The roof man ascends a ladder from the ground to the roof while carrying the folded or rolled tarps. Each tarp can weigh up to 150 pounds. After climbing onto the roof, he unfolds the tarps and drapes them over the sides of the structure. It is usually necessary to stand on the roof while securing the tarp in place.

On the day of the incident, a three-person tenting crew was assigned to a fumigation job at a two-story home. The victim, working as the roof man, climbed an extension ladder onto the roof while carrying a tarp. A neighbor heard the sounds of the ladder movement and saw the victim sliding off the roof and falling to the ground 25 feet below. The neighbor immediately called 911. The victim’s co-workers did not witness the incident, as they were working on the other side of the house. The paramedics found the victim unresponsive and without spontaneous respirations and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

CAUSE OF DEATH

The cause of death according to the death certificate was traumatic injuries of the head.