Case Study: A 31-story condominium complex was being built in Miami, Florida, and a stucco company was contracted to stucco the exterior of the building. Five employees of the stucco company were applying stucco to the building about 75 feet above grade when the mast climbing work platform (scaffold) collapsed. Three of the employees were working on a cantilever decking section of a platform extension, while the other two employees were working on the platform extension portion of the scaffold. When the failure occurred, it caused the cantilever deck to rotate, which caused three men to fall to the ground. The other two men were able to hold onto a section of scaffolding, which prevented their fall. The three men who fell to the ground were pronounced dead, while the other two were treated for minor injuries at the hospital.
Key Takeaways: When authorities arrived on the scene to assess the reason for the equipment failure, they found that the scaffolding had been overloaded on the orders of a supervisor. The structural integrity was also compromised, although this was unknown to anyone on the jobsite. If proper attention had been paid to the condition of the equipment, it would not have failed, and three people would not have died.