Seven roofers were injured on December 10 in Hackensack, New Jersey, when an aluminum plank supported by ladder jacks slipped off its bracket. The 35-foot fall injured two of the workers critically, according to reports in the local press (see: "2 workers remain critical after N.J. scaffolding collapse," by Noah Cohen/NJ Advance Media; "7 hurt, 2 critically in Hackensack apartment complex scaffold collapse," by CeFaan Kim, Eyewitness News WABC-7; "3 construction workers remain hospitalized after scaffold collapse," by Stefanie Dazo/North Jersey Record).
Photos provided by a local fire department and photos by local press indicate that the workers were standing on an aluminum plank about 30 feet long, supported by brackets at the top of ladders some 35 feet off the ground. The ladders' feet rested on a sloping paved surface by the side of the structure, and the workers were standing at the edge of a mansard roof slope that made up the building's third story. A coworker at the scene was too distraught to provide any details about the accident, WABC reported. The accident is under investigation by federal OSHA and by the Bergen County, New Jersey, Sheriff's Department.
