Walter Visage was in a car down at street level outside the Pittsburgh manufacturing building used by W.W. Paterson, a manufacturer of towing and lifting equipment, when he spotted someone on the roof. It was 8 a.m. on Jan. 9, 2020, and the person on the roof appeared not to have any fall-arrest harness or perimeter barrier in place.
Visage, a compliance officer for the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration, pulled over and started to take pictures.
