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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program 

California Department of Public Health 

Occupational Health Branch 

FATALITY ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL EVALUATION

PROGRAM (CA/FACE) 

A Solar Company Owner Dies When He Falls Through a Skylight

Case Report: 17CA005

 

SUMMARY

A solar company owner was working alone on a roof of a warehouse when he fell 40 feet 

through an unguarded skylight to the concrete floor below. The victim was setting up a drone 

on the roof to photograph work progress. He was unconscious after the fall and died on the 

same day at the hospital. The skylight did not have any protective coverings, screens, or guard 

rails at the time of the incident. The victim was not wearing personal fall protection. The 

CA/FACE investigator determined that, in order to prevent similar future incidents, solar 

companies should: 

• Ensure that employees performing work within six feet of a skylight use skylight screens, 

covers, guardrails, nets, or personal fall protection systems—even for short-duration 

tasks such as periodic inspections or maintenance. 

INTRODUCTION 

 

On December 29, 2017, at approximately 12:00 p.m., a 59-year-old male solar company owner 

died when he fell approximately 40 feet through a skylight while working on the roof of a 

warehouse. The CA/FACE program received notification of the incident from the Division of 

Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) on January 3, 2018. On February 22, 2018, the 

CA/FACE investigator conducted a telephone interview with the company’s executive vice 

president. On March 1, 2018, the CA/FACE investigator visited the incident site, interviewed the 

workers and the managers at both the skylight company and the warehouse, and took 

photographs of the incident scene. The ambulance report was also obtained from the county

coroner’s office. 

 

EMPLOYER/VICTIM INFORMATION

The victim in this incident was the owner of a California-licensed and insured solar power and 

skylight installation company, started in 1994. There were 15 workers employed by the 

company, and 10 were onsite when the incident occurred. Interviews conducted with the 

executive vice president and a supervisor indicated that the victim was one of the pioneers of 
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program 

the solar industry in California, was very knowledgeable about safety regulations and protective 

measures, and was very safety conscious.

WRITTEN SAFETY PROGRAMS AND TRAINING 

The company had all the requisite Cal/OSHA programs, including an Illness and Injury 

Prevention Program (IIPP) and a Fall Prevention Program. It also had a written company safety 

policy which stated that workers should not work on the roof alone, and if on the roof for short 

duration such as for periodic inspections, should not be within ten feet of a skylight. The victim 

and other managers provided on-the-job safety training to the company employees.

INCIDENT SCENE 

The warehouse where the fatality occurred was a storage facility used by retailers to temporarily 

store merchandise before being shipped to local stores or consumers. The employer of the 

warehouse hired the skylight and solar company to resurface the roof with thermoplastic 

polyolefin covering (phase 1), replace the old skylights with new ones, and install a roofmounted solar electrical energy system (phase 2). At the time of the fatality, it was the second 

month of a five-month job. 

Exhibit 1 shows the aerial view of the warehouse. The flat roof of the warehouse contained 84 

skylights, with 42 located on each side of the roof. The roof was divided by a midline with each 

side sloping away from the midline at a slight angle. The dimensions of the skylights were 4’ x 

8’, with each skylight located 36 feet from an adjacent skylight. The roof was accessed by 

climbing a 40-foot ladder (Exhibit 2) inside the building. Exhibit 3 shows the entrance to the 

roof. The skylights that were being replaced were approximately 30 years old. A solar company 

manager stated he thought that the skylights were made of plexiglass.

Exhibit 1. The warehouse involved in the incident.

Skylight

Each side of 

flat roof had 

slight slope 

away from 

midline
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program 

INVESTIGATION

On the day of the incident, at approximately 12 p.m., the victim arrived at the facility and 

climbed up alone to the northeast side of the roof. At the time of the fall, eight workers were 

working on the other side of the roof, approximately 150 to 250 feet from where the incident 

occurred. The site foreman was on the ground organizing materials for the project. None of the 

employees who were working on the southeast side of the roof knew that the victim had gone 

up on the roof. Due to the small roof slope at the building midline (Exhibit 1), these employees 

did not have a clear view of the victim. Post incident, a tablet, a drone controller, and a drone, 

were found 1’4”, 3’, and 5’, respectively, from the broken skylight. Therefore, the supervisors

speculated that he went up on the roof to deploy the drone and perhaps to communicate New 

Year’s greetings to his employees on the roof. Since the drone was found not fully assembled at 

the time of the victim’s fall, the CA/FACE investigator hypothesized that the victim came within

six feet of the skylight while preparing the drone and somehow lost his footing and fell through 

the skylight.

No one at the company was aware that the victim had fallen until a warehouse worker found 

him unconscious on the floor, approximately 15 minutes after he fell. The warehouse worker 

immediately called 911. Emergency services arrived in less than ten minutes. The victim was 

transferred to a local hospital where he died later that day. Exhibit 4 shows the broken skylight. 

Exhibits 5 and 6 show the underside of the broken skylight from inside the warehouse. 

Exhibit 2. The 40-foot ladder used to 

access the roof. 

Exhibit 3. The entrance to the roof.
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program 

Exhibit 4. The skylight the victim fell through.

 

Exhibit 5. Broken skylight from inside the

warehouse. Exhibit 6. Close-up of broken skylight from inside 

the warehouse.
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program 

WEATHER

The weather at the time of the fatality was sunny with a temperature of approximately 53

degrees F, humidity of 72%, wind speed at 0.621 mph, and visibility of 4 miles. The CA/FACE 

investigator concluded that the weather conditions did not contribute to the circumstances of 

the fall. 

CAUSE OF DEATH 

The cause of death, according to the death certificate, was shock and hemorrhage from blunt 

force trauma. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The CA/FACE investigator determined that, in order to prevent workers from falling through 

skylights, companies should: 

Recommendation: Ensure that employees performing work within six feet of a skylight use 

skylight screens, covers, guardrails, nets, or personal fall protection systems—even for shortduration tasks such as periodic inspections or maintenance. 

Discussion: In this incident, the victim was on the warehouse roof with the intent of flying a 

drone to photograph work progress. The roof was 40 feet off the ground, which presented a risk 

of serious injury and/or death in the event of a fall. The victim was not wearing any type of 

personal fall protection, and the skylight did not have any nets, screens, covers, or guardrails. 

While setting up the drone, he probably was within six feet of the skylight, lost his footing, and 

fell through the skylight to the warehouse floor below. 

Companies with employees who work near skylights should have either a passive or active fall 

prevention safety system in place, regardless of roof height (Cal/OSHA Title 8, Section 3212 for 

General Industry and Sections 1670, 1671, 1671.1 for Construction Industry). Examples of 

passive systems include guardrails, nets, screens, and covers. If it is not feasible for shortduration tasks (periodic inspections, maintenance, and repairs) to install a passive safety system, 

an active safety system such as a Fall Arrest System (body harness, shock absorbing lanyard, and 

anchorage points supporting at least 5,000 pounds) or a Fall Restraint System (body harness or 

belt, anchorage points supporting at least 4 times the intended load) should be worn by the 

worker. All roofs require periodic maintenance or repairs, especially roofs with skylights and 

solar panels. If a fall prevention system had been installed, or if the victim had been wearing

personal fall protection, his death could have been prevented. 
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Exhibit 7: Skylight with screen, installed after the fatality. 

REFERENCES 

OSHA Green Job Hazards Solar Energy – Falls: 

https://www.osha.gov/dep/greenjobs/solar_falls.html

Cal/OSHA Stopping Falls Factsheet: www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/etools/08-010/P09-01001.pdf

NIOSH Preventing Falls from Heights Through the Design of Embedded Safety Features:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2014-124/pdfs/2014-124.pdf

CA/FACE Program Digital Stories: http://bit.ly/FACEStories

CA/FACE Program Investigation Reports: 

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/OHB/FACE/Pages/FACEReports.aspx

California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Article 3, Section 1509, Injury and Illness Prevention 

Program in Construction. More information: https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/1509.html 

California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Article 24, Section 1670, Personal Fall Arrest Systems, 

Personal Fall Restraint Systems and Positioning Devices(Construction Safety Order - for 

employers installing solar panels or skylights). More information: 

https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/1670.html
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Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program 

California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Article 24, Section 1671.1, Fall Protection Plan

(Construction Safety Order - for employers installing solar panels or skylights). 

More information: https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/1671_1.html

California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3212, Floor Openings, Floor Holes, Skylights and 

Roofs. Fall Protection in General Industry (for employers performing maintenance or repair work 

on solar panels or skylights). More information: https://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/3212.html

___________________________ ___________________________

Hank Cierpich Robert Harrison, MD, MPH

FACE Investigator FACE Project Officer

___________________________ January 29, 2019 

Laura Styles, MPH

Research Scientist

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FATALITY ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL EVALUATION PROGRAM

The California Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the Public Health Institute and 

the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), conducts investigations of 

work-related fatalities. The goal of the CA/FACE program is to prevent fatal work injuries.

CA/FACE aims to achieve this goal by studying the work environment, the worker, the task the 

worker was performing, the tools the worker was using, the energy exchange resulting in fatal 

injury, and the role of management in controlling how these factors interact. NIOSH-funded, 

state-based FACE programs include: California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, 

Oregon, and Washington.

 

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Additional information regarding the CA/FACE program is available from:

California FACE Program

California Department of Public Health

Occupational Health Branch

850 Marina Bay Parkway, Building P, Third Floor

Richmond, CA 94804

www.cdph.ca.gov/face