# Have You Ever Fallen From Scaffolding?



## Admin

> "Studies show that half of all people hitting a hard surface with a velocity of 18 miles per hour – that’s 27 feet per second – are killed. This means you could die from a fall of only 11 feet. An alarming 90% of all falls involving scaffolds happen during routine jobs at an average height of 12 to 15 feet. A 200-pound man falling at a distance of 6 feet produces 1200 pounds of force. That much force applied suddenly to a shoulder, hip or skull… well, it’s not pretty." http://www.painttalk.com/articles/2015/07/tips-for-scaffold-safety/


Have you (or one of your employees) ever fallen from scaffolding?


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## Gough

Yes (and yes).


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## CApainter

What are we, reaching out to the dead? j/k. 

Seriously though, I have teetered right off the end of a ten foot plank sitting unsecured on ladder jacks at about fifteen feet up. Although I obviously survived the fall, I'm convinced I could've been at least three inches taller had the plank not landed on my head.


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## Oden

Bad mojo to talk about 










In general terms I feel o.k.
This puppy, I call it a step up. But technically it's a scaffold. Took quite a few dudes out over the years. 
What is the articulated boom to lifts this is too scaffolds, the biggest perpetrator. 
The funny thing. Safety they don't want u to kick along on a bucket. I never seen anyone go flying off of a bucket. These, yeh. More than a few went flying off of these over the years.


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## daArch

Cricket said:


> Have you (or one of your employees) ever fallen from scaffolding?


I LOVE that picture, I think, if I remember correctly, one of the "pros" here on PT had it on their website a few years ago.

Does it count if an over turned bucket tips over when stepping onto it from a plank between two ladders ? Or does this have to be REAL scaffolding from which I don't REMEMBER taking a dive off of.

I did absolutely freeze once climbing up a 60 ft pipe staging tower inside a Boston theater once. That got my attention.


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## Epoxy Pro

No and hopefully neither Carly, me or our crew fall. I have fallen off ladders only.

Oden: I have one of those and have almost gone over a bunch of times. It now sits and never gets used.


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## Rbriggs82

I'm keeping my mouth shut in fear of being jinxed. 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## SemiproJohn

Yes. Twice.

Both incidents were due to stupidity, yet thankfully the heights were only from 6 and from 4 feet, respectively.

My first escapade was entirely of my own doing. I had never erected any scaffolding before. I braced together a pair of 6 foot frames and threw some 8 foot boards on top. The ground wasn't level, and there was actually a hole near one of the frame legs. Rather than filling the hole and leveling the ground, I placed a 1 inch by 4 inch piece of rough sewn cedar across the hole and put the frame leg on this. Is it any wonder that the scaffolding gave way when I climbed up and onto the boards? I was not hurt, just humiliated. Some of the other guys on the crew let me know how stupid I was for covering a hole with a flimsy piece of wood. I became a great scaffold builder by the way.

The second incident occurred, again, because of stupidity. On a set of 4 foot frames, my "boss" and I were cutting out a 7 foot 6 inch concrete window header. We thought it best to wedge a long 2 by 4 between the inside brace and the header, to act as a sort of cushion for when the header fell. We had a strong feeling that the header would fall after the rebar was cut on both ends (hard to get a hold of) and did not want to damage the concrete floor below. Well, we were right. The header came crashing down, and the force of it caused the 2 by 4 to act as a lever which caused the scaffolding to twist and jerk violently. I did a backwards summer sault to the ground and landed on my rear end. Just as I thought to myself, "I'm ok," one of the scaffold boards landed on the top of my head, taking a chunk of meat with it.

Long story short...be smarter than the tools you work with. Both of these accidents happened over 30 years ago, and I've built and/or been on lots of scaffolding since, much of it over 5 stories in height. I had no incidents after these two. I don't think I'll ever be in the situation again as I do residential painting now and nothing commercial.


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## journeymanPainter

I've never fallen off of scaffolding, but one of my journeymen did before I was an apprentice. There were 3 towers set up and I believe a truck ran into one causing a domino effect, and he got 'trapped' between them


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## Picky_Painter

No.. knock on wood...

But I am EXTREMELY careful with scaffold and planks and ladders... I use wood plank still, scaffold plank. Any plank that doesnt pass MY inspection... forget OSHA... If that plank doesnt pass my inspection it gets cut up. And my guys know, if we are using wood plank, to inspect it before using, if it doesnt look safe, set it aside, dont use it.

Further, placement of ladders, jacks and plank, and steel scaffold, are all safety oriented. If I dont feel its safe it doesnt happen. NO!

No paint job is worth risking your life over and I will not btch if the job took longer, because the 'shortcut' was a little bit more dangerous... take your time, and be safe. 

With that said, I dont even let guys climb up the scaffold to get to the top. use a ladder, its safer...

My biggest fear is that thing tipping over... I know i know... my luck, id be climbing up the side and itll tip over.

I go over ladder safety when the extensions come out every year... how to set up, place a ladder and how to check if its solid... with scaffold same thing...

I cant tell you how many good painters dont know how to check a ladder to see if itll slide once they get to the top.


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## Schmidt & Co.

Yes, and I've told the story here before. Short version is that 23 years ago i wasn't watching where I was walking and literally walked off a plank. I fell 2.5 stories into a soft, freshly planted flower bed. I was lucky in that I escaped relatively unscathed. It taught me an important lesson in safety early in my career (that I NEEDED to learn) that has stayed with me to this day.


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## DrakeB

Schmidt & Co. said:


> Yes, and I've told the story here before. Short version is that 23 years ago i wasn't watching where I was walking and literally walked off a plank. I fell 2.5 stories into a soft, freshly planted flower bed. I was lucky in that I escaped relatively unscathed. It taught me an important lesson in safety early in my career (that I NEEDED to learn) that has stayed with me to this day.


You're a lucky fella.


I didn't ever come off the scaffolding when I was doing 'real' work. I did intentionally jump off from > 10 feet up several times. I also jumped off a porch roof that was at least 15 feet up, twice. Never seriously injured myself at the time, but already have joint problems (at 24 years old) and am fairly convinced my naivete at that time is to blame.


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## Wildbill7145

Never fell off, but did once fall on and to this day I'm sure it may have saved my life.

First job I ever did when I started working with my 'handyman' friend was doing some roofing. Cleat broke free and the plank I was on dropped. I tumbled backwards down the roof and landed on the scaffolding which thankfully had a sheet of plywood on the backside. I looked over the edge and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be walking today if that plywood wasn't there.

To this day, I hate walking on roofs or doing anything off a roof for that matter.


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## Gough

Worse than falling: watching our lead painter go over the side of a tower....the one time I let another member of the crew do the tear down. The only thing that saved her was that there was a deck on side brackets on the next frame down. She only fell 5 feet instead of ~25+.

It's been about 20 years, and it still gives me nightmares.


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## journeymanPainter

Gough said:


> Worse than falling: watching our lead painter go over the side of a tower....the one time I let another member of the crew do the tear down. The only thing that saved her was that there was a deck on side brackets on the next frame down. She only fell 5 feet instead of ~25+.
> 
> It's been about 20 years, and it still gives me nightmares.


When I was an apprentice back east one of my journeymen told me a story from when he was an apprentice. 

He was watching the pot for his journeymen while he was spraying a deck off of a 40ft scissor lift. Watched him walk right off the side and drop 40 feet. Died as soon as he hit the concrete floor.

This was before all the mandatory safety regulations. Now in Ontario you have to be wearing fall arrest gear to operate a lift....and aerial lift certifications


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## RH

Rbriggs82 said:


> I'm keeping my mouth shut in fear of being jinxed.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


Yeah, falling from anything isn't something most painters are keen on talking about.

Working on ladders and scaffolding is akin to riding motor cycles - just about the time you start thinking you are really good at it…


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## Lambrecht

Odd as it is most of the traumatic injuries from falling are from a standing position on the ground. I was always amazed at the extent of injuries that I saw as a paramedic from "simple" falls. I remember a call that I ran on a guy that had a heart attack while working on a deck and fell 75+ feet to the ground. After finally locating the guy in the woods and performing CPR for over an hour he managed to survive and make a full recovery with no brain trauma or broken bones.


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