Two weeks ago, we installed a 5 on 12 metal roof on a two-story house we had just finished framing. We finished on Friday evening and were getting ready to leave for the day and weekend. I have a habit of taking a pair of binoculars and checking metal roofs to see that all the required fasteners are there and it was at this point that I checked the roof. I found that there were three missing screws in one of the rows near the peak.
I decided to go up and install the missing screws. We set up the ladder and I briefly considered getting out and setting up my fall protection gear. I am usually fanatic about using fall protection, especially for my crew, but, with only three screws to install, I decided that it wasn’t worth the time. How wrong I was.
I climbed up and installed the screws. As I was descending back toward the ladder, I lost my footing and off the roof I went. I fell about 25 feet onto a sawhorse and pile of scrap which included peices of metal we had cut. The list of injuries is as follows:
1) Severve concussion
2) Four broken ribs, one of which punctured my lung (Surgery required)
3) Broken ankle (Surgery required to repair)
4) Severely sprained wrist
5) Various cuts (due to landing in the metal roofing scraps) requiring 47 stitches
I started working in this business when I was 14, working part-time for my uncle. I’m 42 now and over the years have never been badly hurt. I have fallen off ladders and once I shot myself in the finger with a finish nailer, but nothing like this. If I had only listened to myself and used my fall protection this wouldn’t have happened.
Have any of you done something that you knew you shouldn’t in an effort to save time that came back to haunt you?
Replies
Man, I'm so sorry to hear that - I'm bad about doing just the same - stretching safety on just "one more thing"
Heal fast; hope the holidays are okay - no jolly laughing with those ribs!
Forrest
Maybe we can get McPlumb and all the other Macs in here
Edited 12/8/2007 7:03 pm by McDesign
Ouch! And of course you know you're effing lucky to not be hurt worse.
Hope you bounce back quickly, and doubly hope your insurance was paid up.
Yes, my insurance is paid up, THANK GOD! I'll be out about 8-9 weeks at best. One of the worst things, though, is that my wife and I were supposed to leave for Florida this morning for my first vacation in in 4 years.
""bounce back""
C'mon Dan, really! No pun intended, right? We know what you meant.
McK,
Sorry for your misfortune & we hope you get to that vacation soon. Hope you have a good crew that can keep things together for you.
Yeah, I did something like that once with a tire machine. Almost killed myself and no one at fault but me trying to rush something.
bum
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
...aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
sorry to hear it.
My father the housepainter about 90% now after a 30' fall from ladder painting his own house 4 years ago! Broken pelvis, most ribs.
Take care.
Man that bites. Theres few times on here I feel more genuinely sorry long distance than when I hear someone getting hurt like that. BTDT. And 25 feet, my gosh. You coulda got killed. Several years ago a painter here tripped over his airless hose, standing on the porch roof so only like 10-12 foot up but he got a wheelchair out of the deal.
Heal up. Find some good books.
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
Get a nice laptop and push those BT posts into triple digits.
Mend well.
DavidLive in the solution, not the problem.
If my wrist allows, I'm going to tie all those fishing flies that I've been meaning to tie over the years that I'll never have the time to use.
Lordy,Lordy man you makin me hurt just reading your thread. I fell this past Aug. looked like I had got into a fight with Applo Creed " Rockies nemoses"Hope you all the best ,and heal well, the good thing about missing your vacation is you can have another chance to --go on vacation with your wife another time.
Hope the best for you.
Good post, reminds us all of what we take for granted each day.
Everything happens for a reason.
Make the best of your time of recovery.
Seems the only vaca I get is in recovery.
To answer your question, no. I haven't been bitten yet by doing what I knew better - directly - but I know it's coming. Other than the back issues which is probably from doing alot of stuff I shouldn't have for a long time.
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Ouch! Man, so sorry for your fall. Get well, and enjoy the holidays in the process.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Yes. I've given myself stitches and taken some nasty falls tearing my joints and breaking bones etc. and they all had one thing in common, I was pushing too fast and most of them happened at the end of the day when I was tired.
You have my sympathies.
As big a PITA it may be, I really try to do things the safe way now.
I hope you learned from this and I really hope you heal 100% and are well soon.
Every day is a gift.
Man, I hate hearing stuff like that.... on a 5 in 12 even. But as sorry as I am for you, I'd say you got lucky. As you know.... 25 feet is no joke. Just this afternoon I was reading the local news on line and a 20 year old kid down on the Cape fell 15 feet on Friday. Suffered head injuries and passed away last night. He was sheathing a roof and a gust of wind caught the sheet of plywood he was holding on to. Man....15 ft.... and only 20 years old.
Hope you heal up soon bud.
Wow!! That sounds painful. I hope you recover speedily and completely.
Just remember it could've been worse!!
I've never been hurt in any serious way because I did something I knew better than to do, but lots of little bruises and cuts.
I do remember that it was a very early lesson that getting off the roof can easily be the most dangerous part of a roof job. I try to always keep in mind that I will have to go back and I need to make sure I can.
Rich Beckman
Have any of you done something that you knew you shouldn't in an effort to save time that came back to haunt you?
Yup....just check out the "I'm an idjit" thread.
Thankfully, I was never in the danger that you faced.
All I can offer is best of luck on a speedy recovery. And if you believe in God, thank him that you are still alive.
Hope you're mistake and the posting of it's story here helps to remind everyone how quickly things can change in this line of work.
All the best man!
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Sorry for the injuries, enjoy the time with your wife.
About four years ago I fell 10' flat on my back, about 3' from the rebar sticking out of the foundation. Extension ladder wasn't tied off (by me). I definitely have an eye out for safety that was not so diligent before the incident.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
Hope ya heal quick.
Sorry to hear about your fall, and injuries. I hope you're better soon.
One of the most important things I've learned in over 30 years as a carp is to listen to that little voice in my head when I'm about to do something stupid.
I hate to think about how many times that may have saved me.
I know that has got to be a terrible feeling on the way down. Took a tumble 3 bucks high on a rolling scaffold, so I know on the way down "this ain't gonna be good". That was one time I wished I was part cat. Slid on a metal roof in Springfield Massachusetts one year 3 days prior to Christmas, working alone on a boiler flue. Scared me so bad I didn't pass gas for a week.
I sure hope you heal up quickly, being stir crazy isn't any fun either.
As a side note, looks like we may be relocating to your area in the spring. Wife is being transferred so I am heading that way.
Get well bud!
Edited 12/9/2007 11:00 am ET by ErnieK
Eeeeeeiiii. Sometimes it's the only way we learn... I've stuck the same thumb in a circular saw and a router... slow learner<G>Hope everything heals up well... Winterlude, Winterlude, my little daisy,
Winterlude by the telephone wire,
Winterlude, it's makin' me lazy,
Come on, sit by the logs in the fire.
The moonlight reflects from the window
Where the snowflakes, they cover the sand.
Come out tonight, ev'rything will be tight,
Winterlude, this dude thinks you're grand.
Who does your wife work for? Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you with the move.
Glad to hear you're OK. How bad is the ankle. I hope you've got the best you can find for it, they're hard to fix and key our agility.
Sure glad you survived. Wish you a speedy recovery.
Grandpa died in a fall similar to yours.
There was a long serious thread 6 or 7 years ago about "surviving falls", amazing what some here have survived, including falling off the top of a grain elevator and landing in an full oat truck.
Re:
Have any of you done something that you knew you shouldn't in an effort to save time that came back to haunt you?
When I was 27, I'd taken the ROPS/FOPS off my old D2 cat to replace the clutch (the entire eng to tranny had to be separated). Snowstorm came up, and didn't get the FOPS replaced, a couple of trees were leaning toward the house, so went out to pull them over. Had pulled hundreds of trees, alway with cable longer that the tree height, but took a chance to save time with a shorter cable, figured the root ball always slowed the fall enough I could get outa the way.
Tree broke off - woke up 2 days later in hospital with skull in 37 pieces, but still alive. Good 6 months to recover, but at least retained 'some' brain functions.
Have never gotten on any big machine since without FOPs, later rolled that same D2, sure glad the cage was on then.
Remind me not to loan you any heavy equipment... <G>