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Hispanic Carpenter Dies After Falling From Homemade Platform, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Falls

In the Spring of 2007, a 32-year-old Hispanic male carpenter (decedent) died when he fell from a homemade platform (extended approximately seven feet in the air) after it detached from a telehandler (forklift). The decedent and two other carpenters were framing a new construction, single-family residence located on a hillside which was rough and steep. The three carpenters were framing the wall at the rear corner of the house which was high because of the sloping terrain. To reach the area, the crew decided to use a homemade platform as a makeshift scaffold. A fourth worker operated a rough-terrain forklift …