Slips, Trips & Falls page 7

Slip, Trips, and Falls #7

updated 05/06/2010

Milford worker hurt in fall from garbage truck
Sarah W. Walker, Register Staff February 15, 2003 
MILFORD — A city sanitation worker was critically injured early Friday morning when he fell from a moving garbage truck while collecting trash along a downtown route, officials said. Thomas A. Schreiber, 48, of Milford was in critical condition Friday evening at Yale-New Haven Hospital, hospital officials said. His sister, who was notified by the city shortly after the incident, held a vigil at the hospital Friday along with Public Works Director Bruce Kolwicz and Sanitation Foreman Daniel Hooks. “Our hearts go out to the family,” said Mayor James Richetelli Jr. “We hope that Mr. Schreiber is able to pull out of this.” The accident occurred just before 8 a.m. while the three-man sanitation crew that Schreiber is part of collected garbage on Platt Lane, Richetelli said. As the truck turned onto North Street, Schreiber — who was riding on the rear of the truck — fell off, striking his head. Fire and rescue personnel responded to the scene within minutes, Richetelli said. Fire Department spokesman Brad Ross said fire and rescue workers quickly transported Schreiber, taking him to the hospital in a rescue vehicle rather than waiting for an ambulance. “Mr. Schreiber underwent surgery late (Friday) morning and he’s currently in very critical condition,” Richetelli said. Schreiber joined the Sanitation Department three months ago, having transferred from the Custodial Building Maintenance Division of Public Works. He began working for that division on Dec. 26, 2000. Richetelli said that the city’s worker’s compensation administrators, Mathog & Moniello Cos. Inc. of East Haven, sent a crisis intervention specialist to the hospital to assist family and friends. Crisis intervention specialists also counseled co-workers, including two other sanitation workers who were assigned to the same truck as Schreiber and other city employees. The two sanitation workers working with Schreiber did not finish their route Friday morning. But a contingent of other sanitation workers who had gathered at the Public Works Department after learning of the incident were believed to have completed the route, Richetelli said. The Traffic Unit of the Police Department is investigating the incident, police spokesman Officer Vaughan Dumas said Friday. Dumas declined to comment on the case, though he did say officials are looking at whether the fall was caused by a medical problem. 

Worker seriously injured in fall from scaffold in Woodstock tank
By KEVIN P. CRAVER The Northwest Herald 
WOODSTOCK – A Rockford plumber is in serious condition after a 30-foot fall Friday afternoon into an empty wastewater treatment tank. Leon Dorris, 49, was walking on a scaffold above a concrete tank at about 12:15 p.m. at the Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant, 1965 N. Tappan St., when a metal grate gave way beneath him, said witness Bryce Cyrzan, a foreman for Fischer Mechanical of Broadview. Dorris unsuccessfully tried to grab onto the handrails as he fell. “He was just walking on there, and the next thing you know, he went through,” Cyrzan said. “It’s a mystery. We really don’t know how.” Cyrzan said Dorris and other workers have walked on the gangway many times without any problems. Dorris was working on installing air pipes for the tank at the time of the accident. Woodstock Fire-Rescue paramedics and firefighters stabilized Dorris in the tank. Dorris was sprawled on the bottom against the pump machinery in the center. He fractured his left leg and suffered unknown internal injuries, Fire Chief Ralph Webster said. He was conscious and alert. Firefighters hooked the stretcher to a ladder truck to hoist Dorris out of the pit. The department has trained on using the ladder truck to hoist a victim, but Friday was the first time they did it. Webster said the training paid off. “This is a first for us,” Webster said. “We’ve pulled people out of basements but never a 30-foot pit.” Paramedics took Dorris to a Flight for Life helicopter, which landed on the soccer-football field at the Northwood Middle School campus. Dorris was flown to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Webster said Dorris could have suffered far more serious injuries. “All in all, considering how far he fell, he looks to be in pretty good shape, and it looks like this will have a happy ending,” he said. The contractors installed the scaffold and is not part of the plant, Public Works Director John Isbell said. The accident likely will be investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the insurance company for general contractor Joseph J. Henderson and Sons of Gurnee, Fischer Mechanical project manager Bob Vik said. Isbell and Vik agreed the city probably will not be held liable for the accident. Henderson was unavailable Friday afternoon. Workers are in the middle of a $1.4 million renovation of the plant to be completed later this year, Isbell said.

Man falls 40 feet after construction accident 2/13
By TODD HARPER For The Lebanon Reporter 
Zionsville — An Indianapolis man working on the construction of the new auditorium at Zionsville Community High School is in critical condition at Methodist Hospital after falling approximately 40 feet. Alivio Moralis, a construction worker for Verkler Inc., was finishing work on the roof portion of the construction when the accident occurred, said Brian Miller, deputy chief of administration for the Zionsville Fire Department. The accident took place just before 2 p.m. Miller said Moralis suffered head injuries due to the fall, but was unsure of the severity of the injuries. He assisted medics in transporting the victim to the ambulance. It is not apparent what caused the fall. ZFD crews immediately cleaned up the accident scene and gathered all personal items left behind. Verkler is the general contractor for the school’s project, which has recently been delayed due to the cold weather. It is scheduled to open for the 2003-2004 school year. A response from Jeff Rowland, the contact person for Verkler was not available at press time and ZCHS assistant principal Chris Willis said he was unsure of the exact details of the accident. “I had gotten word that there had been an accident and that a rescue crew had been called,” he said. “By the time I had gotten down there they were taking him away.” Bill Payne of Fanning/Howey and Associates, the architect and designer for the project, said late in the afternoon that his company had just learned of the incident and was waiting word on further details. More information in the accident will be provided as they become available.

Worker airlifted after 30-foot fall
2/13/2003 11:48:24 AM By: Megan Butler, news14.com 
The worker fell about 30 feet off a platform. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A construction worker was airlifted to the hospital Thursday morning after falling from a platform at UNC Charlotte. A coworker said the man fell 30 feet and paramedics said his injuries were serious. MEDIC workers said the worker was as subcontractor working for Buckner Steel in Graham, N.C. He was taken to University Hospital and then airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center. A fellow worker told News 14 Carolina that the injured man was working on a building on the campus when he fell about 30 feet to the ground. news14.com will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.

Construction worker injured
By Michael Knox Independent Tribune
A Hispanic male was flown to Carolinas Medical Center Wednesday afternoon after an accident at a construction site, Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Deputy K.P. Troutman said. The 26-year-old man was working on the frame of the building, where the roof is, and fell about 12 feet, Robinson said. The accident happened around 12:20 p.m. in the Rocky River Crossing development, at the intersection of Rocky River Crossing Road and Willow Glen Road. Troutman declined releasing the man’s name until the family was notified. He said the man suffered from a concussion while he was working for Carolina Framers. Harrisburg Fire and Rescue Firefighter Tim Robinson said it’s unclear exactly whether he received the concussion before or after he fell. The 26-year-old man was working on the frame of the building, where the roof is, and fell about 12 feet, Robinson said. Cabarrus County EMS also assisted and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate. 

UPDATE Bridge collapse suits seek millions
Thu, Feb 13, 2003 By TOM LAMBERT Observer-Dispatch 
Two lawsuits totaling more than $80 million have been filed against the state in the aftermath of the Marcy pedestrian bridge collapse. Deborah L. Couchman, widow of Scott Couchman, a construction worker who died during the collapse, filed a $50 million lawsuit Jan. 22. Frederick T. McNeil, a construction worker severely injured during the collapse, and his wife Emma McNeil filed a $30 million lawsuit. Couchman and McNeil were working for Tioga Construction Co. of East Herkimer, the project’s general contractor. Couchman was killed and McNeil and eight other workers were injured when the 170-foot bridge twisted, buckled and collapsed 20 feet to the ground Oct. 10. According to the lawsuits, filed in the state Court of Claims, Couchman’s death and McNeil’s injuries were a result of working “in an unsafe, dangerous and hazardous condition and location.” The workers weren’t adequately trained in safe and proper construction site procedures and weren’t harnessed or provided with safety nets/railings to prevent falls, the lawsuits said. The lawsuits also claim a flaw in the bridge design caused the collapse. Jennifer Post, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said that because the matter is in litigation, DOT wouldn’t comment. “We are in the process of doing a thorough investigation of what happened at the bridge to make sure nothing like that happens again,” Post said. She said state DOT officials hoped it would be done by this summer. Marc Violette, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, wouldn’t comment on the case before it goes to trial. The lawyers representing Couchman and the McNeils, Eva Brindisi Pearlman and Louis Brindisi, also couldn’t be reached Wednesday. Brindisi, however, has said under state labor law the owner of the property is strictly liable for any negligence on the part of the contractors/subcontractors when an injury or death occurs as a result of a fall from an elevated height. The state owns the site where the bridge collapsed. Meanwhile, at 10 a.m. Friday all parties involved in the case will return to state Supreme Court Justice Robert Julian’s chambers in Utica to work out a schedule for inspection of the site. A date of April 15 has been targeted for the pedestrian bridge to be removed so work can resume on the Utica/Rome Expressway, state DOT officials have said. Portions of the bridge would be shipped to a facility at the Oneida County Airport for further testing.

UPDATE Construction worker killed in fall from house is identified 
LYNNWOOD — A 64-year-old construction worker who died Monday after falling about 10 feet from scaffolding at a construction site has been identified as Duane E. Marberg of Lynnwood. The accident occurred at about 2 p.m. in the 160th block of 60th Avenue West. Marberg, part of a crew building a single-family home, was guiding a hose for a cement truck driver when he fell, police said. 

Man dead after factory roof fall 
CAT BARTMAN February 12, 2003 17:29
An investigation has begun after a man fell 30ft through a skylight onto a concrete floor at a factory in Diss. The accident at the Norfolk Feather Company happened at about 11.30am today when the man was replacing roof lights that were damaged in storms last year. He was taken by air ambulance to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital with multiple injuries and skull fractures, but died just after 2pm. No details about the dead man have been released, but he was working for Reads Construction, based in Harleston, and was aged between 40 and 50 years old. The Health and Safety Executive confirmed that its investigators were at the factory in Park Road this afternoon. It is understood the man fell through the roof into part of a processing area where staff were working. No one from Reads Construction was available to comment late this afternoon. Mike Whittemore, managing director of Norfolk Feather Company, said they had offered staff counselling if they needed it “Obviously the staff are all very shocked, it’s an absolute tragedy,” he added. A land ambulance was already at the scene when the air ambulance arrived at 11.36am, and police were called just before 11.45am. A spokeswoman for the HSE said: “Our investigation has started into the accident in conjunction with the police.”

Man falls 20 feet into sewage well 
By Andrew Dys The Herald (Published February 12‚ 2003) 
Emergency workers rescued an injured chemical company employee from a 20-foot deep sewer well Tuesday morning, but details remain unclear about how or why the man fell. The United Laboratories salesman, whose name has not been released, and a city of Rock Hill Utilities worker, Brian Hoover, were testing a degreasing product at around 9:30 a.m. at a wastewater pump station on Dutchman Drive when the salesman fell into a well that had a 2-foot square opening inside the building, said city spokeswoman Jane Alleva. Officials are unsure whether the well was covered with a grate, Alleva said. The man suffered no broken bones, but was admitted to Piedmont Medical Center for observation, Alleva said. After finding the man in the well, Hoover used a two-way radio to call utility operations, asking for a 911 call and directing other workers to engage the pump. The sewage level was high enough where the man was choking and gagging, said Cotton Howell, York County emergency management director. “He lapsed in and out of consciousness during the rescue,” Howell said. Rock Hill firefighters were first to arrive on the scene near Celanese Road. Firefighter Eric Holmes was lowered into the well to assist the victim as other emergency workers arrived. Holmes said the victim was unresponsive and in a fetal position in one corner of the well. The sewage was about 38 degrees, said Rock Hill fire inspector Tim Hatchell, and Howell added that hypothermia and the possibility of spinal injuries were a concern for rescue workers. However, Alleva said late Tuesday that the man did not appear to have suffered from hypothermia. The harness Holmes attempted to use to assist the victim out of the well wouldn’t fit, forcing Holmes and firefighter Mike Knotts to rig a harness while in the pit. Firefighters used a rescue pulley system and safety lines to pull the man to safety at about 9:30 a.m., about an hour after responding. The incident remains under investigation, said City Manager Carey Smith. “It was clearly an accident. The circumstances aren’t altogether clear why that occurred,” Smith said. Alleva said Hoover told the man he would go around the pump building to turn on a pump and that he would be right back. Hoover left the salesman outside the building, but Hoover had already unlocked the door, Alleva said. “When he went around the building, he heard yelling,” Alleva said. Hoover went in and turned on the lights. “He found the well open, and him in it. We do not know if there was a grate on the well or why he went in there.” The salesman was with Hoover to see if the degreaser was a product the city may consider purchasing, Alleva said. Workplace incidents where a single person is injured do not require a report to Occu-pational Safety and Health Ad-ministration, said Jim Knight, a spokesman for the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Workplace incidents with more than three injuries require reporting within eight hours, Knight said. However, OSHA can evaluate specific incidents involving single injuries and decide to investigate, Knight said. United Laboratories is based in St. Charles, Ill., according to company spokeswoman Julie Benson. The Rock Hill incident remains under investigation and the company is not releasing any information, Benson said. Founded in 1964, United Laboratories provides specialty chemicals to municipalities and industry, according to the company’s Web site. 

Pilot critically ill after 5 metre fall from aircraft door
Ken Rutherford, 46, a pilot employed by easyJet, is critically ill in hospital following a fall from height as he closed a fuselage door after passengers had disembarked a Boeing 737 at Edinburgh Airport at the weekend. He was discovered on the tarmac below the boarding steps. It has been suggested that strong winds may have been a factor in the accident. A spokeswoman for easyJet said pilots only shut doors if they are the last ones to leave their aircraft. Mr Rutherford has serious back injuries and is in stable but critical condition. The airline and the British Airports Authority in Scotland are investigating the accident.

Man dies in fall at Lynnwood construction site 
Herald staff 
LYNNWOOD — Authorities are investigating a death that occurred Monday on a construction site when a man fell from some scaffolding. The accident occurred about 2 p.m. in the 160th block of 60th Avenue W., where workers were building a single family home, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Trudy Dana said. A man in his mid-50s was on a catwalk guiding a hose for a cement truck driver who was pouring a concrete foundation. The driver saw the man have some difficulty and apparently lose his balance. He looked away for a moment and then realized the man had fallen to the ground, she said. The Snohomish County medical examiner is investigating. 

Fatal accident at Target Distribution Center Thursday; Worker killed after fall at Midlothian roof site
By ROB WILLIAMS Daily Light staff writer
MIDLOTHIAN – A worker was killed Thursday after falling from a roof at the construction site of the Target distribution center in Midlothian. The accident occurred around 2:34 p.m. at the distribution center, which is in the RailPort industrial park, Midlothian Deputy Fire Chief Tom Montgomery said. The worker was adding roofing materials to the metal roof and apparently fell 30 to 35 feet onto a concrete slab, Montgomery said, where firefighters found him upon their arrival. “When the firefighters got there, they did not detect a pulse and did not detect any respirations from the worker,” Montgomery said. Firefighters immediately began efforts to revive the man, but were unsuccessful; the worker was transported by ambulance to Baylor Medical Center-Ellis County where he was pronounced dead, Montgomery said. The cause of the accident is under investigation, Montgomery said. The name of the worker was not immediately available for release. Company officials were not available for comment by press time. 

UPDATE $100,000 fine over fatal scaffold fall 
By Olivia Hill-Douglas February 8 2003 
A water tank company was fined $100,000 in the County Court yesterday for unsafe work practices after an employee fell to his death when a scaffold collapsed. Father of two Phillip Mahoney, 36, of Geelong, died on June 8, 1999, after the mobile scaffold on which he was standing collapsed while it was being moved three metres. Another man, James Greenslade, then 44, of Ballarat, fell to the ground with the scaffold. He was seriously injured. Mr Mahoney, who had been working on the construction of a large water tank in Broadmeadows, grabbed the edge of the tank after the scaffold tipped over, but lost his grip and fell nine metres to the ground, striking his head on the scaffold as he fell. Geelong company E. Brockman and Son had earlier pleaded guilty to providing an unsafe workplace and system of work. Judge Roland Williams said moving scaffolding while workers were on it had become accepted in the company. “It had become an accepted system of work… throughout the construction of this tank and, I imagine, o thers,” the judge said, adding that the rules were flouted to save time. “Brockman knew the rules yet, for what it considered to be pragmatic reasons, knowingly connived to breach the rules,” Judge Williams said. Shortly before Mr Mahoney’s death, Mr Greenslade had recommended to the company that workers be off the scaffold while it was being moved, the court heard. Mr Mahoney’s wife, Melanie, said in a victim impact statement tendered to the court: “He should have come home that night as usual.” The court heard that moving scaffolding while workers were on it was common throughout the scaffolding industry. E. Brockman and Son had been operating since 1921. It had won industry awards and made contributions to charities, the court heard. No other deaths had occurred at the company. The court was told that since the accident Brockman had made workplace safety a priority. WorkSafe Victoria executive director John Merritt said the $100,000 fine should be a warning to employers to make sure that employees abide by safety rules.

Gozitan man in danger of dying after falling off some scaffolding 
by Charlotte Bonavia, di-ve news 
Kercem, GOZO (di-ve news) 05/02/03 1230CET– A 67-year-old man of Kercem was seriously injured and is in danger of dying after falling a height of eight courses while he was carrying out voluntary work in his parish church on Tuesday afternoon. From investigations it resulted that the man fell off some scaffolding while he was carrying out some maintenance work. A helicopter took the man to St Luke’s Hospital where he was certified as suffering from serious injuries in his head and ribs and unfortunately was in danger of dying. Duty Magistrate Paul Coppini was informed about the case and appointed various experts to assist him in the inquiry. Victoria’s District Inspector is leading the Police investigations.

Worker Dies After Falling Into Well
February 5, 2003
PINEHURST — A man working at a Habitat For Humanity site was killed when he fell head first into a 55 foot-deep well Wednesday morning. The accident happened around 10 a.m. near the city of Pinehurst on Juniper Lake Road off of Highway 211. Thirty-five-year-old Jack Henry King of Lake View was working for a well-drilling company. He was working on the well that he fell into. The well and nearby sandy ground had to be stabilized before any rescue efforts could be attempted. Once the well was stabilized, rescue crews lowered a camera to check the victim. When crews couldn’t view any movement through the camera, they sent a rescue worker down to retrieve the body. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will visit the site. 

Man Rescued From Water Tower
Some Round Rock firefighters had to maneuver through tight spaces to rescue a man Tuesday afternoon. He had fallen while working inside a water tower. Firefighters were working a rigging system with ropes to lower their patient. He was about 128 feet above ground painting the inside of the water tank when he fell off scaffolding. “He fell approximately 10 feet, striking his head and complaining of severe back injuries,” Lt. David Kieschnick with the Round Rock Fire Department said. Round Rock firefighters used this basket to secure the patient before bringing him down. Tight confined spaces is what rescuers like Lieutenant David Kieschnick had to work in. “The initial area getting him out was only 16 inches in diameter that we had to get him out of the reservoir,” Kieschnick said. “Actually they had disassemble some of the the scaffolding to do the patient care and patient assessing,” Round Rock Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Garzarek said. Then they brought the patient down a ladder inside the long tower was not a straight shot. “Three or four different levels that the ladder changed on the way up. About every 30 feet they’d change, change direction from wall to wall,” Kieschnick said. It took about two careful hours to bring the injured man down the water tower. Williamson County paramedics say he was in stable condition. Round Rock’s deputy fire chief credits the rescue to some of the intricate training firefighters go through. “And this is the scenario you paing when you have high angle resuces, or potential high angle rescues. You can look at this tower itself and see it’s fraught with danger,” Garzarek said. The patient is about 30-years-old, and he was taken to Brackenridge Hospital from Round Rock. The lieutenant who was one of the rescuers said the man was alert and talking to them as he was brought down. 

Man falls to death at college
Sunday, February 2, 2003 By Angela Sykes Madera Tribune
A Tulare man fell to his death while working with a construction crew at the Madera College Center Friday morning. Samuel Fidler, 22, a construction worker with Harris Construction of Tulare, was working two stories up at the construction site at the Madera College Center when he lost his balance and fell 28-feet, head first, landing on a slab of cement, according to Erica Stuart, Madera County Sheriff’s Department public information officer. According to Stuart, Fidler died instantly. A source who works at the Madera College Center heard one of the construction workers yelling “Oh – – – -! Call 9-1-1” from across the campus about 9 a.m. Friday morning. Officials from the State Center Community College District, Madera Center declined to make a statement about the incident. Attempts to contact Harris Construction officials for comment were unsuccessful as of press time.

UPDATE Billboard company says no defects in design
LAWRENCEVILLE – The Tennessee company that designed the Snellville billboard that collapsed and killed three workers last August claims it did not contain any defects. An attorney for the Thompson Engineering Group of Athens, Tennessee — Tracy Wooden — made the statement. It came after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that the structural design of the billboard did not conform to steel industry requirements. Wooden says the company provides an engineering plan for signs but does not make them. OSHA also sent a letter to Phoenix Structures and Services, blaming the company for “extensive flaws” in the welding of the billboard. Phoenix — also of Athens, Tennessee — could not be reached for comment. OSHA’s area director — G.T. Breezley — says he wants the billboard industry to check every sign made by Phoenix or designed by Thompson.

Construction worker hurt in Weston fall
By Evan Hessel 
A 33-year-old Naples construction worker broke both heels and injured his lower back when he fell 18-feet off of a ladder in Weston. The man was working at a house in Woodmill Ranch Estates in the 3300 block of Fairfield Lane, said Todd LeDuc, spokesman for Broward County Fire Rescue. He was standing on a fiberglass ladder leaned against the roof when the ladder collapsed, LeDuc said. 

Graycor settles injury lawsuit; Worker will get $3.75 million after falling from ladder 
Friday, January 31, 2003 By Jennifer Martikean Staff writer
A Homewood construction company will pay more than $3 million to a subcontracted worker who was severely injured when he fell off of a ladder at a job site. Graycor Construction Co. settled the personal injury lawsuit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court for $3.75 million. Graycor was sued by Charles Gates, a member of Laborers Union Local 96 who was working for subcontractor Weiss Construction doing masonry work at the time of the accident, said Gates’ attorney, Larry Weisman of the Chicago law firm Goldberg, Weisman & Cairo. “The ladder on the job site violated several (workplace regulations) and despite complaints, the general contractor permitted the ladder to be used and Mr. Gates fell,” Weisman said. Gates fell off of the ladder in December 1997 as he was climbing it to work on a project at the University of Chicago Hospitals, Weisman said. Because of the design of the ladder, workers had to carry their lunch and tools under their arms as they climbed, instead of putting them in a container that could later be hoisted up to the work site. When he fell, Gates was attempting to carry his lunch under his arm. “The ladder was built on the job site and it was the only means of access to a certain point of the construction site,” he said. Gates, who lives in Kane County, was hospitalized for about two weeks after the accident and was in rehabilitation for many more months, Weisman said. Gates suffers from vision and memory problems, and needs assistance to perform daily tasks, Weisman said. Graycor was represented by William J. Cremer and Thomas R. Pender of the Chicago law firm Cremer, Kopon, Shaushnessy & Spina. Pender said he could not comment on the case because of a confidentiality agreement.

UPDATE Firm cited over death at skybox work site
A Jacksonville subcontractor involved in the construction of a new skybox at the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is facing citations in connection with last year’s death of a construction worker. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration noted problems with bolts used on a brace system and also with fall protection for employees, paperwork filed by the agency shows. A representative for Summit Erectors Inc. could not be reached for comment Wednesday. OSHA records show the business is contesting the three violations noted by the agency. A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for late February. OSHA investigated circumstances surrounding the death of James Sudak, 45, of Jacksonville, an ironworker for Summit Erectors Inc. He died July 24 while setting a concrete column at the stadium. Sudak was struck by a steel brace supporting the column, University Police reported. He fell about 60 feet, landing on a concrete platform. OSHA said bolts used on the brace system were not appropriate and a torque wrench was not used to install bolts onto the brace system. “This could cause the brace to separate from its anchor point on the concrete column and fall onto an employee,” OSHA’s report stated. A cable guardrail system also had been removed so concrete columns could be brought into the site, but an alternative fall protection was not used, creating an 80-foot fall hazard, OSHA found. A wire rope perimeter guardrail system also was loose, creating a fall hazard, OSHA reported. The violations are categorized as serious, meaning they can result in a serious injury, illness or death, said James Borders, director of OSHA’s Jacksonville office. “I don’t think any construction site, large or small, should have any violations,” Borders said. “They’re designed so any employer can meet them.” Borders said OSHA employees spend most of their time at construction sites because of the large number of fatalities reported in Florida. Falls accounted for 23 of the 43 construction-related deaths investigated by OSHA in the state between Oct. 1, 2001, and May 31, 2002, the agency reports. OSHA has proposed the business should pay $9,800 as penalty for the violations. No final determination on the case will be made until the business has a chance to contest or appeal the citations. Borders said the construction project’s general contractor, Turner-PPI Joint Venture, is considered the “controlling employer” at this site and was involved in the inspection. But there was no finding that it violated OSHA rules in this case. Shortly after Sudak’s death, his son and several of his co-worker had said safety standards were ignored. They said the brace had come loose from its bracket and a cable barrier along the ledge over which Sudak fell was not up at the time. Instead, they said, it was put up immediately after the accident. Workers said precautions that could have been used would have been safety walls, harnesses and secondary lifelines – anchored cables with a tether long enough to allow workers to move freely but short enough so they would not fall far in an accident.

UPDATE OSHA points to faulty design in billboard collapse
SNELLVILLE – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says faulty design and manufacturing led to a billboard collapse that killed three workers in August, a federal agency concluded. OSHA’s area director G.T. Breezley said the design by Thompson Engineering Group of Athens, Tenn., did not conform to steel industry requirements. He blamed Phoenix Structures & Service, also of Athens, Tenn., for welding flaws. Breezley said he wanted the billboard industry to check every sign made by Phoenix or designed by Thompson. He’s also notifying billboard companies and industry trade journals, but OSHA won’t issue citations. The workplace safety agency can impose punishment only when companies knowingly expose employees to a hazardous situation, Breezley said. Trinity Outdoor of Buford bought the 35,000-pound billboard, and Fowler Sign Co. of Lilburn employed the workers who were killed.

£500,000 damages for 22ft fall
10:49 Tuesday 28th January 2003
A LABOURER who suffered brain damage after a devastating fall from scaffolding at the Glades shopping centre in Bromley has won £500,000 compensation. Brian Tighe, 54, suffered skull fractures, a broken back and broken ribs when he fell 22 feet while constructing the Glades in December 1989. His head injuries resulted in severe memory loss and general mental impairment. Mr Tighe is now living in a care home but for much of the past decade he was cared for by his brother Michael who lives in Alderwood Road, Eltham. His counsel, Gerwyn Samuel, said Michael Tighe had taken on his brother’s care “in an attempt to avoid him being institutionalised” but his own marriage had suffered in the process. “For many years they never even had a weekend together,” he told the court. “Michael Tighe was intent on looking after his brother, who really did need full-time care but wasn’t getting it from the social services and so the family stepped in,” Mr Samuel added. But Brian Tighe’s condition had worsened over the years culminating in his final admission to institutional care. Mr Tighe was not a trained scaffolder but on the day of the accident was sent aloft to help lower a space heater to the ground with the aid of a rope. While doing so he overbalanced toppling 22 feet to the ground below. Michael Tighe claimed damages on his brother’s behalf, suing former employers, Tarmac Construction Ltd, of Cornwall Terrace, north London. Mr Samuel told Mr Justice Treacy, a settlement has now been agreed whereby Mr Tighe will receive £500,000 for injuries. The judge approved the providing of a £48,000 settlement to Michael Tighe as some compensation for his past care and expense.

UPDATE FATAL ACCIDENT 
A 35-year-old West Valley City man has died from injuries suffered in an accident at a Park City construction site Friday. Bidal Banuelos-Castaneda fell about 20 feet from a scaffolding at a construction project at Deer Valley, injuring his head and neck, according to a Park City police report. He was transported by air to University Hospital in Salt Lake City where he later died.

Repair Worker Dies In 80-Foot Plunge
By Keiko Morris STAFF WRITER January 28, 2003
A Hampton Bays man fell 80 feet to his death yesterday as he was climbing a cell phone microwave tower in Syosset to do repair work, Nassau Police said. Det. Sgt. Herbert Daub, of the Homicide Squad, identified the man as Dwayne Fernandez, 33, an employee of Island Mobile Communications of Long Beach. He said Fernandez and two other men were working on the tower shortly before 3 p.m. when the accident happened. The other two men were on the ground at the tower, which is near the center of the Syosset business district, on Railroad Avenue, just south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks and just west of Jackson Avenue. Witnesses told police Fernandez was wearing a harness to climb the tower and the harness was attached to a steel cable. After a preliminary investigation, they said it appeared that a braking device on the harness failed as Fernandez was nearing the top of the 84-foot high tower. Workers below heard a snapping sound just before the fall, police said. Fernandez was pronounced dead at the scene. Daub said the death appears to have been accidental. Family members did not want to talk about the incident yesterday. Owners of the company were not available for comment. 

Construction worker hurt in fall 
Jan. 26, 2003 Post-Tribune staff report 
CENTER TWP.— A construction worker is still listed in serious condition a day after falling 35 feet Friday while working on a multi-unit building in the Aberdeen subdivision. Oscar Sauceda, 44, of Lake Station fell onto a concrete sidewalk while working at the building on South Marcliffe. Sauceda was taken to Porter Memorial Hospital and is still being held there. Valparaiso firefighters said another man working on the ground suffered minor injuries from falling objects. Police officers covered Sauceda with coats and blankets to keep him warm until an ambulance could find the accident site. 

UPDATE Safety scrutinized in November construction death 
By EILEEN ZAFFIRO Staff Writer Jan 25, 11:49 PM 
DAYTONA BEACH — A crumbling wreath of flowers and a goodbye scrawled on weathered paper defied the ocean wind for weeks, clinging to an elevator shaft where 23-year-old Florencio Mendoza was crushed from the waist down in November. endoza’s weekend was an hour away the Friday afternoon he slipped off the top of an elevator, became entangled in a metal tower and was pinned beneath a multi-ton counterweight for 20 minutes. Doctors fought to save the construction worker, but he died three days later. In the weeks since the fatal Nov. 15 accident at the Ocean Walk Resort North high-rise, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been trying to figure out why the DeLeon Springs man fell. It’s not the first time OSHA has investigated the two companies in charge of the 25-story time share project for fall-related problems. Together, the two companies have racked up at least 57 fall violations and have been fined $60,000 over the years. A Daytona Beach News-Journal analysis of OSHA records showed Welbro Building Corp., a 24-year-old company based in Maitland, has been cited at least 21 times since 1984 for fall-related violations at its Florida work sites. Welbro, which also has a South Carolina office, has been fined about $30,000 over the past two decades for fall-related problems, including one $18,700 fine for a repeat handrail violation. Foley and Associates Construction Co., a 28-year-old Daytona Beach-based business that is Volusia County’s largest general contractor, has been cited by OSHA at least 36 times since 1975 for fall-related violations at its Florida work sites. Foley also was fined at least $30,000 over the years for conditions that created a danger of falls, according to OSHA records. Both companies’ citations, most of which were not spurred by accidents, were for such violations as failing to provide fall protection, deficiencies in guardrails and scaffolds and dangerous openings in floors and walls. James Borders, area director for the OSHA office that covers Volusia County, said both companies’ tallies sound like more than the accumulation of routine slip-ups. “To me, they appear high,” said Borders, who is based in Jacksonville and has been with OSHA since 1975. “But that’s just a comment from the gut.” A search of some other companies’ records might turn up similar results, Borders said, but added, “Companies should not have to be cited that many times for fall-related problems.” Luis Santiago, area director for OSHA’s Fort Lauderdale office, said, “If any company had five or six violations of fall problems in a five- to 10-year period, it would concern me.” Welbro and Foley’s fall citation totals also sound high to Mike Williams, state president of Florida Building Trades. “But that doesn’t mean those companies are any worse than the one next door,” Williams said. “They just got caught.” Both Welbro and Foley vehemently defend their safety practices, and point to their successes. Welbro has built a major hotel, sports complex and school buildings in Orlando, while Foley helped build the Justice Center on Ridgewood Avenue, Daytona USA, parts of Stetson University and the Hilton Garden Inn near the Daytona Beach airport. “We continue to strive to do the best we can in a fragile world,” said Foley President and CEO Arthur Simpson. All building contractors wind up with some fall protection violations, said Bruce Holmes, executive vice president of Welbro, Mendoza’s employer. Considering Welbro has been inspected about 140 times over the years, getting slapped with 21 fall-related violations is not so deplorable, Holmes said. “A work site is a very dynamic place,” he said. “You can have all safety barricades in place, and 20 minutes later someone can move one and you’re in violation. It’s not an unnecessary standard, but it’s a tough standard.” Officials at the North Atlantic Avenue construction site say no one witnessed Mendoza falling as he greased parts of the hoist, which was carrying people from floor to floor as he worked. It’s still not known exactly how the Mexican native’s 6-foot safety strap failed to keep him on top of the elevator he was in charge of operating and maintaining. A site supervisor said OSHA inspectors “didn’t find any discrepancies in the building or the hoists,” which have been back in use for about seven weeks. On the day of the accident, there was speculation that the counterweights broke, but that theory has not been confirmed. Project leaders say they’re sincerely baffled. “It’s an unusual occurrence unprecedented in our careers,” Holmes said. “We’ve never had a death of a worker. We’re rather traumatized by this.” About 10 years ago a man working on a Welbro project was killed by electrocution, but he worked for a subcontractor, Holmes said. Foley has also lost only one other worker on a past job site, a man who was killed by a lightning strike several years ago, corporate officials said. “I’m as mystified as anyone,” Simpson said. “We’re still in shock about this.” 

Wentworth worker is hurt in fall 
By Christine Gillette 
NEW CASTLE – A worker on the renovation of the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel in New Castle was injured when he fell from the fourth floor. The worker fell either through a window or an opening in the wall of the hotel’s fourth floor last Friday, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, which is investigating the accident. The worker was injured in the fall, but not fatally, according to OSHA and others with information on the incident who did not wish to be identified. The construction worker is an employee of Court Con, a general contracting arm of Ocean Properties, which owns the hotel and is renovating it to be reopened later this year. Ocean Properties refused to comment on the job-site accident. Neither Ocean Properties, nor New Castle police would release the identity of the injured worker. Information on his condition was not available, although he reportedly sustained leg injuries in the fall. OSHA’s investigation is expected to continue until at least Monday, according to Paul O’Connell, acting OSHA area director for New Hampshire. “When that’s done then we’ll have to put all the facts together and if it’s appropriate, if there have been some OSHA standards violated then we could issue some citations to the employer,” O’Connell said. 

UPDATE OSHA CITES CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES FOR SAFETY VIOLATIONS 
Two construction companies are being cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for safety violations. The violations were discovered after an accident at a construction site in Brunswick in November of 2002. Workers were putting together the frame for a new medical office building when several large wooden trusses collapsed bringing the workers down with them. Four workers were injured. OSHA has proposed $5,700 in fines to Maple Leaf Construction of Waterville and $3,500 to Alliance Construction of Scarbourough. The companies are expected to appeal. 

Worker dies in accident at Edward Jones Dome
January 23, 2003 
St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) – A worker fell 200 feet to his death inside the Edward Jones Dome on Wednesday. Michael Holt, 45, was part of a crew replacing sound-absorbing tiles in the ceiling of the dome. Holt fell from a beam, according to Bruce Sommer, director of the convention center complex that includes the home of the St. Louis Rams. A fire department spokesman said Holt was wearing a harness when he fell. Police and the Occupational, Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident.

Independence man dies in accident 
By The Examiner staff 
An Independence man died Tuesday at a downtown Kansas City construction site when his concrete truck slipped from a dirt ramp and fell into a 6-foot-deep ravine. The weight of the truck crushed the cab. Earl F. Bean, 64, was killed instantly, authorities said. Bean had driven to the site to pour foundation footings for a new medical center building. He had been employed by the construction company, Fordyce Concrete, for 18 years. Bean was a lifelong Independence resident who worked hard and spent his free time with his five grandchildren and watching baseball games, said his 20-year-old daughter, Melanie Bean. Melanie Bean, who had lived at home with her father, said he worked long hours but when he was off, they enjoyed driving around looking for new places to eat. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now,” she said. As of this morning, Melanie Bean was making funeral arrangements.

UPDATE, Conectiv must pay injured house painter $5.1 million
By RENEE WINKLER Courier-Post staff
A jury awarded $5.1 million in damages to a Gloucester County house painter who was partially paralyzed on the job when an exposed electrical line shocked him. Tom Litka, 44, was painting the exterior of a home down the street from his own Franklinville residence when the accident happened June 10, 2000. He fell from a ladder and was shocked by an uninsulated power line attached to a utility pole at the house. Litka broke 15 bones, including several ribs, his backbone and sternum. One bone severed his spine, paralyzing him from the chest down, said his attorney, John Mininno. After four months of hospitalization and physical rehabilitation, Litka must use a wheelchair to move around and rely on friends and family for his care, according to testimony at the trial before Superior Court Judge Charles Little. The power line was installed and maintained by Wilmington, Del.-based Conectiv, which provides electrical service in the Franklin Township area. The company was the defendant in Litka’s suit. Litka expressed gratitude after the verdict Friday that New Jersey doesn’t impose caps on judgments in civil cases. “He needs constant care, professional care, and this will pay for it,” Mininno said. The attorney declined further comment. Conectiv also declined to comment on the suit. The Camden County jury awarded damages of about $7.2 million – $4 million for pain and suffering and the balance for Litka’s medical expenses. Jurors found that Litka was 30 percent responsible for his injury, reducing the amount Conectiv must pay to $5.1 million.

Man survives 18-foot fall in Saratoga Springs
JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian January 21, 2003
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A worker hanging drywall for the new CVS drug store building along Congress Street survived an 18-foot fall from a scaffold Monday morning. Bruce Kilmartin, 41, of Boylston Street in Glens Falls, was in stable condition Monday afternoon at Albany Medical Center, Saratoga Springs Police Investigator John Catone said. A state police helicopter flew him to the medical center right from an adjacent parking lot. ”He’s going to make it,” Catone said. ”He is very lucky.” Kilmartin injured his head and neck. Catone said the hospital told him Kilmartin didn’t break his left leg as firefighters originally thought. ”He hit his head and neck on the scaffold on his way down,” Catone said. Catone said he doesn’t know why Kilmartin fell. No witnesses saw him fall, and everything about the scaffolding seemed to be in order. ”There was snow on the victim’s shoes,” Catone said. ”He might have just slipped.” Kilmartin wasn’t wearing a safety harness, though, police later said. Catone said he has referred the case to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Albany, a standard procedure for workplace accidents. Kilmartin works for subcontractor Niatrast Drywall, Catone said. The Pike Companies of Clifton Park is the general contractor, he said. City Fire Capt. Robert Williams said Kilmartin fell onto a concrete sidewalk. Kilmartin was conscious, but not alert, soon after the accident at about 8 a.m. Jeffrey B. Post, 42, of Ballston Spa, died Dec. 8 of head injuries suffered a day earlier when he fell 12 feet from a scaffold at a Jelenik Building and Renovations job site on Vanderbilt Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Catone investigated Post’s death as well. ”He didn’t fall as far as Kilmartin, and he died,” Catone said. ”It just depends on how you fall.”

UPDATE OSHA Fines Birmingham Company $84,500 Following Inspection Of Fatal Truck Accident
BIRMINGHAM , Ala. — The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today cited a Birmingham company for safety violations that contributed to a temporary worker’s fatal fall from a refuse collection truck. The agency fined Environmental Waste System, a subsidiary of Waste Away Group, Inc., $84,500 for willful and serious safety violations and failure to report a fatal accident within eight hours. The accident occurred on July 22 after an employee was picked up at a temporary agency to work as a helper on a rear loading refuse collection truck. After working for only 30 minutes collecting trash in a residential neighborhood, the employee fell backwards off the riding step, as the truck made a turn. He struck his head on the asphalt surface of the street, sustaining fatal injuries. “OSHA has issued a willful citation against this employer because of a plain indifference to OSHA standards and a clear disregard for worker safety,” said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA’s Birmingham area director. “The parent company has been cited before in other parts of the country for the same violations we found during this inspection.” OSHA fined Environmental Waste System, also known as Waste Management, $70,000 for one willful safety violation for failing to provide personal protective equipment, such as high visibility vests, to temporary employees. Without the protective gear, these employees were far more likely to be stuck by vehicular traffic or otherwise injured while placing trash in the refuse truck. Two serious safety violations for failing to train temporary employees in safe work procedures and protection from exposure to sharp objects or infectious material found in solid waste cost the company an additional $9,500. The remaining $5000 fine resulted from the company’s failure to report the accident in the prescribed time period. Waste Management has 15 working days to contest OSHA’s citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s area office at Vestavia Village, 2047 Canyon Rd. in Birmingham; telephone: 205-731-1534. OSHA is dedicated to saving lives, preventing injuries and illnesses, and protecting America’s workers. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Deckhand Falls to His Death; Body of tugboat worker recovered in Hempstead Harbor
By Joseph Mallia STAFF WRITER
The body of a Port Washington tugboat deckhand was found in Hempstead Harbor yesterday morning after he apparently fell into the near-freezing water while trying to jump, sometime after midnight, from a shoreline bulkhead onto a barge, police said. “It was probably about a five- or six-foot jump and he didn’t make it,” Port Washington Police Sgt. Albert Bartkowski said. “Once you fall into the water, there’s no easy way to get out,” he said. The 42-year-old man, a Staten Island resident, appeared to have died from exposure to cold water and air, police said. He was not identified by police pending notification of his family. Bartkowski said an autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death. The man was temporarily living on a tugboat moored off the West Shore Road terminal of Tilcon Industries. The man worked on the tugboat hauling sand and gravel barges for Tilcon, police said. Bartkowski said tugboat workers at the Tilcon terminal often live on their tugs, and the man would have reached is bunk by jumping from the dock to the barge, which was tied to the tug. The tug captain saw the man’s body at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday in water near the Tilcon Industries terminal on Roslyn West Shore Road and called Port Washington police. Nassau Police Marine Bureau divers recovered the body, which was taken to the county medical examiner’s office. Sixth Squad detectives are investigating the death. Police said they believe the man remained conscious after the fall and said he may have tried to climb up a metal chain that extended from the water to the dockside. The bulkhead was about 8 feet higher than water level, and the barge deck was even higher, he said. Tide tables showed that Hempstead Harbor reached the high-water mark at 11:19 p.m., and police believe the tide was full, or had just begun to go out, when the man fell into the water. The water was too deep for him to stand up, Bartkowski said. “Right now it looks like it was an accident. There was no injury to the head, no injury to the body,” Bartkowski said. “He fell into 35-degree water, then he was out in the 10- or 12-degree air trying to climb the chain, and you’ve got hypothermia setting in.” Police said the man was out with a friend, who left him at 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Authorities do not know whether alcohol consumption played a part in the man’s death. The man worked as a deckhand for Miller’s Launch, a Staten Island-based company that contracted with Tilcon to haul sand and gravel barges, Nassau police said. A Miller’s Launch employee who answered the company’s telephone in Staten Island yesterday declined to comment. Corporate officials could not be reached yesterday.

Snowplow Driver Dies on the Job
A state snowplow truck driver died overnight on the job. He was at a salt barn on the city’s northeast side when he fell off his truck. Investigators still don’t know exactly what happened, but they say 45-year-old Dave Borgman was emptying his truck at the end of his shift when he fell off the back of the vehicle. Witnesses say one moment they saw Borgman on the back of the truck, and the next moment he was on the ground. Investigators say Borgman could have slipped, he could have been struck by a piece of equipment or he could have had a heart attack or other medical problem. Borgman’s colleagues are remembering him today as an enthusiastic worker. He was with the department for 22 years, and leaves behind a wife and children. INDOT is conducting its own investigation.

Whittier man dies from fall into elevator shaft
By Kristopher Hanson
Thursday, January 16, 2003 – LONG BEACH — A 24- year-old Whittier man was killed early Thursday after plunging nearly 40 feet into an elevator shaft at a Port of Long Beach construction site, officials said. Edward Ulloa fell into the opening while working on the elevator’s door frame in a parking structure being built adjacent to the Queen Mary, said Long Beach Fire spokesman Scott Clegg. Paramedics answered a 7:15 a.m. accident call at 1126 Queens Highway and found Ulloa suffering from massive head injuries and chest trauma. “He had minimal signs of life upon our arrival,’ Clegg said. Ulloa was rushed to St. Mary Medical Center, where surgeons attempted to stabilize him. However, his injuries were too severe and he died just after 11 a.m., said hospital spokeswoman Kristin Eichelberg. An initial investigation indicated Ulloa was working atop a lift with another worker on the third floor of the parking structure when he leaned over a protective railing and fell, Clegg said. The new 1,450-space parking Structure is being built to accommodate the new Carnival Cruise terminal next to the Queen Mary. It is expected to open this spring. Cal-OSHA, the California branch of the Occupation Safety and Health Administration, will investigate the incident.

Risky rescue at construction site
By Annette Phillips
Local News – Firefighters teamed up with a construction crew yesterday afternoon to pull off the risky rescue of a man who had fallen four metres and lay injured on scaffolding two storeys above the ground. Firefighters, co-workers and ambulance attendants climbed the scaffolding, placed the injured man face-down in a basket and used a small crane called a zoom-boom to lift the basket from the second floor to the ground. It was a precarious rescue for firefighters, who have limited training in “high-angle” rescues, said George Harris, assistant deputy fire chief. Had the crane not been nearby, firefighters would have moved to Plan B – likely lowering the stretcher to the ground with ropes and straps, Harris said. The department has long dreamed of developing a high-angle rescue team to undertake missions like the one performed yesterday, Harris said. Funding has been a problem and firefighters rely on their wits, training and resourcefulness to make do in sticky situations, he said. “For 25 years, we’ve tried to muddle along, but in this day and age a lot more is expected of firefighters.” The injured man, whom police and firefighters could not identify, was working on the construction of a new residence for Queen’s University less than a block from Kingston General Hospital. Staff Sgt. Greg Sands of the Kingston police said last night the man’s injuries were minor and that he had never lost consciousness. Elio Pira, one of the site foremen, was on the other side of the building when the man fell. Pira orchestrated the rescue. He directed the crane rescue and rode to the ground steadying the stretcher. He said he did not know what caused the fall. Ministry of Labour investigators were on the scene late yesterday looking for clues to the cause of the accident and for any contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, said Belinda Sutton, a ministry spokeswoman. A spokesman for Aecon Corporation, the lead contractor on the site, said the injured worker is employed by a Kingston masonry subcontractor. Santin Mason Contractors on Clyde Court is working at the Queen’s site, but a spokeswoman there said she could not confirm whether the injured worker is an employee of the company. Kingston firefighters’ high-altitude capabilities were last put to the test in May 1998 when one side of a suspended platform gave way under a couple of window washers high up the outside of the Harbourfront condominium. In that incident, the two men were eventually able to haul themselves up the listing platform and clamber into a window to escape uninjured.

Worker seriously hurt in fall
Palm Beach Daily News
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003 — A construction worker at the 400 South Ocean Boulevard Condo was seriously injured Tuesday after falling between 40 and 50 feet from the building to the pavement, according f+z f-z to Palm Beach Fire-Rescue officials. Fire-Rescue workers were called to the scene at 11:12 a.m. They took the worker to St. Mary Medical Center. His name and condition were unavailable Tuesday evening. The general contractor at the building, Aquashield Corp. of Hollywood, declined to comment on the incident.

Libyan man dies on place of work
by Charlotte Bonavia, di-ve news ([email protected])
Birkirkara, MALTA (di-ve news) — A 28-year-old Libyan man from Tripoli lost his life when he fell a height of three storeys in a construction site at Birkirkara, on Tuesday afternoon at around 1300CET. The accident happened when the man was plastering and painting in a new building in Triq il-Qanpiena l-Kbira, Birkirkara. The man was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital by a private vehicle where the doctor in the Emergency Department certified him as dead. Duty Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima was informed about the case and appointed several experts to assist her in the inquiry. An autopsy on the body is expected to be held on Thursday morning at around 0815CET by Dr Ali Safraz, Dr Maria Theresa Camilleri, Dr Mario Scerri and Dr Mario Sammut. The Police investigations continue

Accident reported day after training
Matt Swearengin January 11, 2003 
One day after an emergency training exercise at Big Lots construction site, emergency personnel were out there again, this time for the real McCoy. About 8 a.m. today, an emergency call was made about a worker trapped under a beam at the site on Enterprise Boulevard. Durant Fire Department and Bryan County EMS were dispatched. “When they called us, they said they had a man with a beam on his leg,” said Durant Fire Department Assistant Chief Stacy Reid. “But we didn’t have to get anything off of him. We just helped the ambulance crew load him up.” Randy Barnhill, project supervisor for Haskell Co., said this morning he could not provide details of the accident or the name of the victim because it is company policy to first complete an accident report. He did say the worker, a subcontractor, has a twisted knee from falling backwards over a beam. Barnhill said the injury is not serious. “He’ll probably be back to work in the morning,” he said. Tuesday morning, Haskell Co. held an emergency training exercise in which rescue crews removed a training dummy from the roof of the building. In this exercise, the “victim” had a heart attack while working on the roof and was removed by crane and loaded into an ambulance. The accident this morning was the first for the Big Lots site. 

Balcony falls, injuring 2 workers
EILEEN ZAFFIRO Staff Writer
ORMOND BEACH — Two construction workers using jackhammers Friday to drop a concrete balcony onto the ground wound up going along for the ride and fell more than seven feet. Both men survived the fall at an Ormond Beach condominium complex without life-threatening injuries, but each suffered multiple cuts, bruises and possibly broken bones, emergency workers said. “It’s a good way to jump-start your heart in the morning,” said Lainey Durgin, the rental manager at the Ormond Ocean Club, where workers are replacing aging balconies. John Rapp and Mike Schaffer, who work for R & J Coatings and Waterproofing, were standing on a beam of the balcony on the southeast corner of the building at 855 Ocean Shore Boulevard, said co-worker John Bickel. A little after 8:30 a.m., they started using their jackhammers on a crack they hoped would break free the second-floor balcony, Bickel said. The plan was to tear down the weak sections of balconies at the 30-year-old, 47-unit oceanside building Friday, and begin replacing th Monday, Bickel said. Rapp, 23, and Schaffer, 45, both of Daytona Beach, were standing side by side and leaning forward as they drilled into a section of concrete about a foot in front of them, Bickel said. “When it gave way, they both fell forward,” said Bickel, who watched helplessly as he stood on a ladder beside them. ” . . . It just broke faster than they wanted.” Bickel said Rapp fell on top of Schaffer, with a jackhammer in between them. “They both jumped up immediately, and I told them Lay down on the grass, both of you, until paramedics arrive,’ ” Bickel said. The balcony was attached to a unit that was to be home for a couple from Ohio throughout January. They moved to another townhouse in the complex Friday. Barbara Downey, who had been living in the unit since Jan. 1, said she was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, and her husband Carl was upstairs. “It was just a big thump, an ungodly noise,” 67-year-old Barbara Downey said. “You knew something bad happened. My husband is in construction and he knew what it was. He yelled down for someone to call 911.” Rapp was taken by EVAC ambulance to Halifax Medical Center, where he was treated and released, medical officials said. A sheriff’s helicopter transported Schaffer to Halifax, where he was admitted and in stable condition later Friday. “Thank God,” Bickel said. “It could have been a lot worse.” The helicopter was dispatched before the seriousness of the workers’ injuries was determined, said EVAC spokesman Mark O’Keefe. He said an ambulance took Schaffer to the helicopter, which landed in the parking lot of nearby St. Brendan Catholic Church. An Ormond Beach city inspector arrived about an hour after the accident, asked about work permits and ordered work stopped at least until next week. Inspectors from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration will check the work site, rental manager Durgin said. 

SF firefighter remains critical after fall from engine
A female San Francisco firefighter remains in critical condition today after falling from the back of a fire engine and hitting her head. Forty-year-old Melinda Ohler was injured Wednesday evening as the engine she was on headed for San Francisco International Airport to respond to reports of a fire in a people-mover car. The 13-year veteran of the force underwent two operations at San Francisco General Hospital to relieve pressure on her brain. She remained unconscious and unresponsive. Fire Chief Mario Trevino says Ohler signaled an “all clear” to the driver of the engine, indicating she was seated with her seat belt fastened. Moments later, as the engine gained speed, Ohler fell. Her seat belt was found unfastened. Trevino said it is not clear how the belt came undone. He says it’s the first accident of its kind in city history.

Man dies after construction accident on E-470
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (AP) – An iron worker was killed Thursday when about 1,500 pounds of rebar fell on him at a construction site here. The accident occurred at about 4 p.m. when the 43-year-old man was working on a portion of the E-470 toll road., which encircles the east metro area. Authorities said he was about 18 feet above the ground when his safety harness worked loose. The man fell and between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of rebar, or reinforcing steel, toppled on him, said police spokesman Sgt. Dan Schuler. The man’s name wasn’t released.

MAN DIES IN 350FT PLUNGE
By Staff Reporter
WORKERS at the Sellafield nuclear plant today spoke of their shock at the death of a contractor who plunged 350ft down the middle of the site’s giant Windscale Pile chimney. Keen sportsman Neil Cannon, 36, of The Forge, Cleator, was pronounced dead at the scene by a Sellafield doctor after the tragedy yesterday lunchtime. A contractor for the PC Richardson firm, Mr Cannon was working on the decommissioning of the remaining giant Windscale chimney, which caught fire and released radioactivity into the surrounding countryside in 1957. Peter Kane, Sellafield’s GMB Union convenor, told the News & Star today that the mood on site was very subdued. “We still can’t take it all in. A lot of people are still in a state of shock. It’s so tragic. He was a well known local lad, he played football and rugby league at amateur level and a lot of the Sellafield lads knew him. “It’s the first death we have had on the chimney and one on them had already been taken down. We were working quite safely in this area. Respect We are keeping a low profile until it sinks in. We have every sympathy for his family and we understand BNFL and PC Richardson are offering them every support.” It is understood that Mr Cannon was lowering metal joists when he was pulled out of his harness and fell down the middle of the chimney. The precise circumstances of the tragedy are still being investigated by police. Workers who were decommissioning the Windscale chimney downed tools and walked off as a mark of respect after the incident yesterday lunchtime. One worker said they were all still in shock over Mr Cannon’s death. “It’s the worst thing that could have happened,” he said. A BNFL spokesman said: “We deeply regret what has happened. We are all very shocked and shaken up by this. The precise circumstances are the subject of an investigation by the police, our regulators and our own investigation. “I would just like to say we profoundly regret that this has happened and our thoughts are with his family and friends.” The Health and Safety Executive have confirmed that they are conducting an investigation into the death, which could take months to complete. West Cumbria coroner John Taylor was due to open an inquest into Mr Cannon’s death later today. Mr Cannon’s family were too devastated to talk about the tragedy. But a neighbour paid tribute to him, saying he was a great guy. “He was really friendly. I can’t believe that this has happened to him. I really feel for his family.”

ROOFER HURT IN PLUNGE
A roofer had to be rescued from 20ft up, after toppling off a rooftop and onto a three-foot wide scaffolding gangway. The man was laying tiles on a semi-detached house at Sandiacre. He fell face-first, from the roof’s apex, onto the gangway, landing on top of an upright scaffolding pole. In a dramatic rescue, fire crews lifted the worker to safety using a high-rise platform. “He was lucky, it could have been much worse,” said sub-officer Bob Hudson, based at Long Eaton, who was first on the scene in Stanton Road. “He tried to break his fall by reaching out but ended up on top of one of the scaffolding poles.” The man, in his late 30s, – from a company sub-contracted to Mansfield building firm Baggaley and Jenkins – suffered chest injuries and was taken to the QMC. He fell 10ft before hitting the gantry. An investigation will now be carried out by the Heath and Safety Executive. Firemen said the man was not wearing a harness but an HSE spokesman said he did not believe there was a rule saying workers in such conditions must wear one. The spokesman said: “When we carry out an investigation into such a matter we will look at the circumstances. Questions we ask include whether people are properly trained and if safety guards were in place.” Stuart Caddy, managing director at Baggaley, said he would not have thought a harness was needed for such a job.

City utility worker killed in fall; 16-year GWP employee was repairing wind-damaged lines
By Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer
GLENDALE — A city utility worker died early Tuesday after falling 45 feet from the top of a power pole where he was repairing lines torn down by fierce winds. Ralph Rodriguez, 38, of Sunland died at USC Medical Center on what would have been his 16th anniversary as a Glendale employee, said Ignacio Troncoso, director of Glendale Water and Power. “We don’t yet have a clear picture of what actually happened,” Troncoso said. “This is a tragic loss — Ralph was an intelligent and thoughtful individual who I enjoyed working with. This really hurts.” The California Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the city of Glendale are investigating the incident. Rodriguez fell about 10 p.m. Monday in the 1300 block of North Jackson Street, Troncoso said. “In this industry, this happens a lot,” he said, “I haven’t met too many linemen who haven’t slipped off a pole at least once.” Rodriguez’s seven-member crew was repairing power, phone and cable lines that were torn when a giant eucalyptus tree crashed down in high winds. Troncoso said Rodriguez may have disconnected his safety harness to get over a line blocking his climb up the pole, and then lost his balance and fallen backward. The 300-pound linesman landed on a plastic garbage can in Brandy Lammers’ front yard, then rolled onto a high brick curb. “I was in my kitchen when I heard something, but I thought it was the wind knocking something down again. Then I heard someone yell, ‘Call 911,”‘ Lammers said. “I ran into my hallway to get blankets in case (Rodriguez) was in shock.” Lammers and resident Terry Timpson said that despite his long fall, Rodriguez was conscious and his injuries initially appeared relatively minor. “We heard people say he just had a broken leg,” Timpson said. A few hours later Rodriguez was dead. Although the cause of Rodriguez’s death was yet to be confirmed, he experienced significant internal injuries, said Glendale spokesman Ritch Wells. An autopsy is pending. Rodriguez’s family was not available for comment. Dean Fryer, a spokesman for Cal-OSHA, said that gas and electric work ranks with construction and law enforcement as the state’s most dangerous jobs. In 2001, six gas and electric workers were killed on the job, as were eight construction workers and 12 police officers, Fryer said. “It’s a high-risk type of job,” Fryer said. Rodriguez is the first Glendale Water and Power employee to die while on the job. The last Glendale employee to die on duty was police Officer Charles Lazzaretto, who was killed during a gunbattle on May 27, 1997.

Fall critically injures roofer in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Staff report
A roofer was critically injured on Tuesday after falling 14 feet from the top of an oceanside motel in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and landing on his back, authorities said. The victim, Jesus Valasco, was working with five or six co-workers from Extreme Unlimited Roofing when he fell from the top of the Seaside Motel, 4605 N. Ocean Blvd, said Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Liz Calzadilla. None of the co-workers saw the accident. Paramedics from Broward County Fire-Rescue rushed the unconscious man, whose age was not available, to North Broward Medical Center at 3:20 p.m. He was in critical condition Tuesday night, a nursing supervisor said.

Workers Hurt in Building Collapse
At least two workers are being treated for injuries after a construction accident in Westmoreland County this afternoon. Some workers on the scene told KDKA that a steel beam collapsed at the Westmoreland intermodal facility, a building under construction in an industrial park off Route 119 in East Huntingdon Township. According to the workers, one man who was on top of the beam actually rode it about 25-feet down to the ground below. Another man was also injured, but it’s unclear how he was hurt. The collapse reportedly caused nine beams to rip out of the concrete base. Other workers at the scene say the collapse came without warning. Now officials are trying to determine what caused the accident.

UPDATE, Safety violations cited in elevator fall
By Warren Cornwall Seattle Times Eastside bureau
State regulators say two companies broke safety rules in an accident that sent three construction workers in an elevator plunging 60 feet to the ground at a downtown Bellevue construction site. The state Department of Labor and Industries said yesterday it has cited the maker of the elevator and the workers’ employer for several “serious” violations in the June accident, which left one man with a broken back, one with a broken pelvis and a third with two broken legs. Each company faces $3,900 in fines from the agency, which investigates workplace accidents. The early-morning accident happened as workers were mothballing the $360 million Lincoln Square development. The project’s backers called a temporary halt to construction because of concerns about the region’s economy. The three workers had ascended to near the top of a partly finished concrete structure destined to become one of two towers. They were in a small construction elevator that ran up a track attached to the side of the building. The accident happened after a part of the elevator went off the top of the track and derailed as it came back down, said Michael Wood, a senior manager for Labor & Industries’ workplace safety program. If a safety device had been properly installed, he said, it could have prevented the derailment. The workers’ employer, Northwest Tower Crane Services, didn’t make sure its employees were trained to safely put up, dismantle, or operate the hoist, according to the Labor & Industries citation. The agency also alleges the company lacked an adequate accident-prevention program. Company officials did not return calls for comment yesterday. The state also alleges that the Houston-based elevator maker installed a safety mechanism backward. That company also was cited for not having a complete accident-prevention program. Jeff Dunbar, an attorney representing the manufacturer, declined to comment on the citations. “It’s really not the company’s policy or practice to comment on matters that are still under investigation,” he said. The companies could appeal the citations. Richard Leider, project director of Lincoln Square for Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, the London-based company backing the towers, said he hadn’t read the citations and couldn’t comment on them. Lend Lease was not cited. The company is awaiting revised permits from the city before restarting work, Leider said. “We still remain committed to receiving those permits and recommencing construction as soon as we possibly can,” he said.

Roof worker impaled on metal spikes
A Shropshire teenager became impaled on two metal rods after plunging through the roof of a former dairy. Demolition worker Adam Waddington fell 15ft from a roof at the former Goodwin’s Dairy site, Wrexham Road, Whitchurch, just before 3pm yesterday. He landed on two metal poles. The 19-year-old pulled one galvanised metal tube from his buttock while colleagues dialled 999. But it took firefighters 40 minutes to cut around the 10ft long bar which had gone completely through his right thigh. Ambulance crews transferred the victim to the North Staffordshire Infirmary by air ambulance on a spinal board specially adapted to fit around the severed pole. Mr Waddington was today described as stable and comfortable – he is believed to have undergone emergency surgery. Sub officer at Whitchurch Fire Station Mike Beach said the teenager had been conscious throughout the rescue and in extreme pain. “He was given painkilling drugs as we used hydraulic cutting equipment. He was a brave lad.” Contractor coordinator Billy Pownall, for Heritage Demolishers Services, said he could not comment until health and safety inspectors had visited the site.

UPDATE, State labor officials investigate death 
By STAFF REPORTS 
BEAUFORT — The state Department of Labor is investigating this week’s death of a man who fell while doing repair work at a Carteret County business. An employee with Anchor Roofing and Remodeling of Morehead City died following an accident Tuesday that occurred while he was doing work at Atlantic Veneer plant in Beaufort, said Juan Santos, a spokesman for the Department of Labor. Kenneth Jenkins, no age or address available, reportedly fell from a roof while doing repairs, said Capt. Franklin Fulcher of the Carteret County Sheriff’s Department. “He was finishing up a roofing job on one of Atlantic Veneer’s buildings, sealing the edge of the roof with caulk,” he said. Fulcher said Jenkins was working alone and an Atlantic Veneer worker coming back from lunch noticed him laying on the ground. Rescue workers were called to the scene and transported Jenkins to a local hospital. Jenkins died the following day, Fulcher said. Details about the accident are still being collected by the Labor Department, which had a representative at the scene of the accident on Friday, Santos said. Preliminary information reported to the North Carolina Labor Department did not indicate from what height Jenkins fell. Santos said it will likely take at least four to six weeks for the investigation to be completed. 

Man falls from roof
MICHAEL HOLTZMAN, Staff Writer December 31, 2002 
BELLINGHAM — A 42-year-old laborer was airlifted yesterday to the trauma center at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, after falling from a condominium rooftop, rescue workers said. The man, who was not identified, suffered “multiple system trauma” from the fall, said fire Lt. Steven Gentile. He said the man was a laborer for a construction crew expanding Maplebrook Condominiums on Maplebrook Road toward the Blackstone Street end of the site. The Fafard Companies in Ashland is the general contractor completing several buildings for the first phase of a condominium project started more than a decade ago, officials said. Fire officials received an emergency call at 3:48 p.m. and paramedics stabilized the man and transported him by ambulance to a nearby landing zone at Bellingham Middle School. He was transported to Worcester by a Life Flight helicopter at 4:31 p.m., Gentile said. “When we reached him he was lying on a 2-by-4 in a garage area of the construction site,” he said. He said a language barrier inhibited rescue workers from obtaining full details of the accident, nor did Gentile know the man’s name. But to the best of Gentile’s knowledge, the laborer fell from the roof onto a wooden landing and rolled onto the concrete in the garage area. He thought the fall was about 10 feet but was uncertain of that information. Because he couldn’t walk, his co-workers placed him on the 2-by-4 to make it easier to transport him, Gentile said. He said the man was conscious, and the official could not say whether his injuries were life threatening. “That’s why we sent him to the trauma center,” he said. Without his name, the man’s condition could not be obtained last night from hospital officials. Gentile said the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had been notified about the accident. According to Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Guerin, there had been previously several less serious construction accidents at the construction site. He said about three buildings of the re-started projct had been completed and framing has been underway with several additional buildings.

Leominster plastics employee rescued after machine mishap 
An employee at Holiday Housewares was rescued by police, fire, and paramedic crews after he fell into a machine yesterday afternoon. A maintenance man at the 25 Tucker Drive facility slipped from the top of a 12-foot-high moulding machine and was pinned between the machine’s frame and its hydraulic hoses. Representatives of Leominster’s fire and police departments and Medstar Ambulance contacted by the newspaper said they did not know the name of hte man involved in the accident. The machine, used to make plastic housewares, was turned off at the time. The man was taken by Medstar Ambulance to Leominster HealthAlliance for back and possible leg injury, but was not seriously injured. Rescuers pulled the man out by placing a backboard behind him, then used a forklift to lower him down to the floor. They called for the Jaws of Life, but did not have to use it. “We were able to get him out without forcing the machine open,” said Acting Deputy Fire Chief Martin Andrews. The man was working on fixing the machine at the time of the accident. The Tucker Drive facility is located on the southeast side of the city, off Route 117.

Man found dead in elevator shaft 
December 25, 2002 By Chris Hack Staff writer
A 52-year-old man from Chicago’s Southwest Side was found dead early Tuesday morning at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the downtown building where he worked. William Mehl, of the 8100 block of South Knox Avenue in the city’s Ashburn community, was pronounced dead at 2 a.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Mehl worked as a night custodian at the high-rise building at 105 W. Madison St. According to a Chicago police spokesman, security workers in the building heard screaming coming from inside the elevator shaft shortly after 1 a.m. When a door was opened, a guard saw Mehl’s body at the bottom of the shaft. Police said they didn’t know which floor Mehl fell from. He had reportedly worked as a custodian for the building’s management company for more than 10 years. Mehl died from multiple injuries to his head and body, according to the medical examiner’s office. Officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Calumet City office are investigating, but could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

UPDATE, No foul play seen in elevator mechanic’s fatal plunge 
Friday, December 27, 2002 By Michaelangelo Conte Journal staff writer 
Investigators now say the death of an elevator mechanic who fell down an elevator shaft in Jersey City on Monday was probably an accident and unrelated to suspicious incidents over the summer at a nearby construction site. Otis Elevator Co. mechanic Daniel McQuillen, 41, of Staten Island, was originally believed to have fallen 21 stories while working in the 40-story Goldman Sachs building under construction on the Jersey City waterfront. But Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday that investigators determined he fell from about six stories. “As of this time, our investigation leads us to believe that there was no foul play involved in McQuillen’s death and that it was a tragic accident,” said DeFazio yesterday. However, DeFazio said the case is still under investigation by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. The Goldman Sachs building is located at 30 Montgomery St. After McQuillen’s fall Monday morning, investigators launched a massive investigation to rule out foul play. Over the summer, a construction site at the 30-story Liberty View towers, located at Hudson and Essex streets, suffered several suspicious incidents, including a bombing and two fires. Fire officials said one of the fires was arson. Both the Goldman Sachs high-rise and the Liberty View residential buildings, only blocks apart, are being built by the Turner Construction Co. DeFazio said McQuillen was standing on top of an elevator between the sixth and seventh floors, attaching a temporary cable to elevator, when the elevator suddenly plummeted. DeFazio said it appears the cable or clips McQuillen was using “gave way.” Because McQuillen was working on an elevator that operates between the first and 23rd floors of the building, investigators originally thought he had fallen the entire distance. The state Regional Medical Examiners Office in Newark said McQuillen died of “impact trauma” to the torso, resulting in severe internal bleeding, said DeFazio. The first officer on the scene reported that McQuillen wasn’t wearing a safety harness, but yesterday an OSHA spokesman said he could not comment on whether that was true. The OSHA spokesman said investigators could not interview construction workers yesterday because of the snowstorm. McQuillen was a second-generation elevator worker; his father and brother both worked in the field. He has three children, sons Daniel Jr., 10, Michael, 8, and daughter Casey, 6. His wife, Ann Marie McQuillen, spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her children at her sister’s home. “I don’t think my two little ones realize what happened,” she told reporters “I don’t think it’s really hit them yet.” Although Daniel McQuillen had been on the job 21 years, the risky work still troubled his wife. “He’s taken us there to show us where he worked,” she said in a Christmas Day interview. “I was never too interested because I knew it was dangerous. Every day, I told him to be careful.”

Worker Survives 30-Foot Fall From Elementary School Roof; Roofer Fell From New Souderton School
December 24, 2002
A roofer was injured Tuesday when he fell 30 feet from the roof of the new Vernfield Elementary School in Franconia, Pa., in Montgomery County. Randy Crocker, 39, of Catasauqua was flown to Lehigh Valley Medical Center after he fell from a two-story section of the Souderton Area School District’s new building shortly after 9:30 a.m. A hospital official says his condition was upgraded from critical to satisfactory Tuesday night. Franconia police Officer Dave Klepfer says Crocker, an employee of Allan Kunsman Roofing and Siding of Freesburg, was conscious after the fall. He apparently misstepped while on the roof of the building, which is slated for completion in the spring. 

Plunge kills worker at waterfront tower; Probe looks at safety at Goldman Sachs site 
Tuesday, December 24, 2002 By Michaelangelo Conte Journal staff writer 
An elevator worker fell 21 stories to his death yesterday morning while working on the giant Goldman Sachs building under construction on the Jersey City waterfront, officials said. The death prompted a major investigation that included federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms because of other “incidents” at a nearby high-rise being built by the same company, officials said. But Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday that according to a preliminary investigation, the death of Daniel McQuillen, 41, of Staten Island, may have been accidental. At 8:27 a.m., McQuillen, a foreman for the Otis Company, was working on the roof of an elevator car installing a cable when the car gave way and plummeted from about half the height of the 876-foot-tall building, according to police reports. McQuillen’s fall ended 10 feet above the floor of the building’s main level. The first officer on the scene climbed onto the elevator platform and found three of McQuillen’s co-workers standing arund his body, and McQuillen had no pulse and was not breathing, reports said. The report said McQuillen was wearing no safety harness. Officers of the Hudson County Prosecutors Office’s Homicide Unit, investigators from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Jersey City Police Department, as well as a doctor from the state Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, all went to the scene, DeFazio said. The doctor pronounced McQuillen dead at 10:32 a.m., reports said. The Goldman Sachs building and the twin 30-story Liberty View towers, located at Hudson and Essex streets, are both being built by Turner Construction company. DeFazio said incidents, including two fires and a bombing at Liberty View, prompted police to take a close look at yesterday’s incident to rule out foul play. In July, Jeff Hays, 25, of Pennsylvania, a laborer at the Liberty View project, was charged with detonating a bomb in an elevator shaft there in July, officials said. No one was injured in the blast, but about 40 construction workers were evacuated, officials said. According to police reports, investigators found a second explosive with potential to emit shrapnel. In June, a massive fire broke out on the 29th floor of Liberty View’s west tower, and officials are investigating that blaze as a possible act of arson. The week before the bombing, a broom had been set on fire in the east tower, officials said. DeFazio said OSHA is investigating McQuillen’s death. Tara Novembre, assistant area director for OSHA, said OSHA investigators remained at the Goldman Sachs building yesterday afternoon and had not yet written a report on the death.

Construction worker killed in fall; 5 men in crew were building new water tower
BY WILL BUSS 
SMITHTON – A man fell to his death Tuesday afternoon as he worked a new water tower. Police didn’t release the man’s name Tuesday. Chief Brian Vielweber said the man was one of five working on the new water tower more than 100 feet above the ground at Village Park off Memorial Drive. He fell inside the tower about 1 p.m. “Apparently what happened is he slipped and landed inside the water tower,” Vielweber said. Smithton Fire Chief Dan Arras said the Fire Department was initially called at 1:03 p.m. Arras described the man as being in his mid-30s. Arras said he believes the man died instantly. “When we got there, they were performing CPR on him,” Arras said. “We could never get a pulse on him.” Vielweber said the crew had been building the new tower for the past two months. He said the men were contracted from Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., a global engineering and construction company. The St. Clair County coroner’s office is investigating the accident, and Vielweber said the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration also has been contacted.

Worker critically injured in fall at construction site
Sunday, December 22, 2002
CLIFTON – A construction worker was critically injured Saturday morning after falling three stories from a Colfax Avenue town house he was helping to build, police said. The man, whose name was not released, was walking along a wooden plank when it broke around 10:30 a.m. at the Cambridge Crossings condominium complex, police said. He fell, hitting his head on the ground. The man was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, where he was in critical condition hours after the incident, police said. Workers for Town & Country Developers – the Woodcliff Lake company that is building the complex – would not comment. Several hundred town houses are being constructed on the 42-acre former Shulton Industries site. – Scott Fallon

UPDATE, Firm to pay £21,000 after worker’s fall 
Dec 23 2002 By Jane Yelland, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
A TEXTILE firm has been ordered to pay more than £21,000 in fines, compensation and costs after a worker fell 25ft through a roof. David Wilson suffered a fractured skull and other injuries after falling while carrying out roof repairs. Managing director Stephen Moorhouse and finance director David Midgley pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of employees at Stork Brothers, Bay Hall Mills, Bay Hall Common Road, Birkby. Huddersfield magistrates fined the firm £15,000, and ordered it to pay £5,000 compensation to Mr Wilson and court costs of £1,272. Sarah Lee, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said Howard Heap, chief maintenance engineer at Stork Brothers, had told Mr Wilson and Rex Earnshaw to clean the guttering before the summer break in July. They were told to use a ladder on one side of the building and gain access through a window on the other side. Ms Lee said the accident happened at lunchtime, when Mr Wilson crossed the roof to climb down the ladder. As he went across the roof he fell through a skylight and crashed 25ft to the floor. He suffered a fractured skull, bruising and a dislocated finger. Ms Lee said the firm had a full-time health and safety officer who did risk assessments on jobs, but had not performed one on cleaning the guttering. She added that there was copious information produced by the Health and Safety Executive on the dangers of working at heights. And Stork Brothers had failed to provide a safe platform for people working on a fragile roof, added Ms Lee. Mr Chris Foulkes, for Stork Brothers, said the firm employed 85 people and had been in business since 1863. He said the firm took health and safety very seriously. They had ordered a full review of all working procedures since the accident and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He said the health and safety officer had attended courses to improve her knowledge of the relevant issues. Mr Foulkes said the accident had occurred through an oversight and not as a result of money-saving. He said Mr Wilson was an experienced employee who had worked for the firm for 15 years. He had been told not to cross the roof and to use the window and ladder for access. He was also back at work after three weeks, said Mr Foulkes.

Montreal construction workers hurt in collapse
CTV News Staff
Six Montreal construction workers are in hospital after a platform supporting them collapsed Sunday. Three of the men have life-threatening injuries. The scaffolding collapsed as the men worked on a three-storey building’s exterior brick wall, which appeared to have cracked, fire department officials said. Witnesses said it appeared that the brick wall, being demolished by workers, fell into the scaffolding, causing the platform to collapse. Alain Champagne was passing by when the scaffolding went down. “I saw a big cloud (of dust),” he told Canadian Press. “When I saw that, I called 911 and ran over.” All six workers were conscious when emergency crews arrived on the scene, and no one was buried under the rubble. Most were presenting head and internal injuries, according to CFCF News. Fire department crews and Workers’ Health and Safety Commission investigators had not immediately determined the cause of the collapse.

Man in critical condition following a fall at CNH
December 30, 2002 By Sarah Schulz 
A man was in critical condition on Monday after falling into a tank filled with cleaning liquid Sunday afternoon while working at CNH. Gerardo Piazza, age unknown, was flown to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Lincoln from St. Francis Medical Center just before 4 p.m. Sunday. Jo Miller, who works in St. Elizabeth’s public relations department, said Piazza was in critical condition with life-threatening injures on Monday. Grand Island police Capt. Pete Kortum said Piazza was injured around 2:30 p.m. Sunday when he fell into a cleaning tank from some equipment he was working on near the tank. The tank contained potassium hydroxide, and Piazza suffered burns over the majority of his body, Kortum said. CNH Plant Manager Steve Lee said Piazza is a project engineer with Comau Geico, a paint system supplier in Milan, Italy. Piazza is from Italy, but Lee didn’t know his hometown. Lee said the accident is under investigation. No one witnessed the fall, and plant officials aren’t sure why Piazza was working near the tank. The tank contains a caustic solution that includes acid. The solution is used in a washing and metal preparation system, and combine parts are dipped in the liquid before they are painted, Lee said. 

Malden man dies in a fall 
NEWTON – A 41-year-old Malden man fell to his death from a ladder at 163 Webster St., West Newton yesterday, according to police reports. A co-worker said the Cambridge HVAC man fell from a 30ft ladder while attempting to drill a fresh air vent in the roof. Early investigations suggest he lost his balance, fell and struck an overhang before reaching the ground. The accident took place around 4:25 p.m. When police arrived on the scene they found the man unresponsive on the ground. Attempts to revive the worker were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene. OSHA and state police are investigating the accident.

UPDATE, Company fined over man’s fall
ERITH: Worker permanently hurt in three-floor plunge. AN Erith company faces a bill of nearly £20,000 after a catastrophic fall on a building site left a worker permanently injured. Lock Bros Plant Hire, based in Manor Road, Erith, was ordered to pay £10,000 compensation to Robert Pettigrove, 42, from Watford. The company, which admitted failing to provide barriers on open warehouse floors, was also fined £5,000 for a criminal breach of health and safety guidelines and ordered to pay £4,500 costs. The Old Bailey was told Mr Pettigrove, a lorry driver, was working for a brick reclaiming company in Potters Bar at the time of the accident in February. He was collecting pallets of bricks from a warehouse in Peckham which was being demolished by Lock Brothers. He was on the third floor and the walls around him had already been knocked down. “Mr Pettigrove was wrapping the pallets in polythene, 25 feet above the ground, when he fell off,” said Caroline Knight, prosecuting. “There was no edge protection to prevent him falling,” she said. “It was clear work had previously been carried out with the unprotected ledge.” Mr Pettigrove, a batchelor, fell three floors to the ground. He fractured his skull and his right arm and underwent six hours of brain surgery before being put on a life support machine for four days. He is now partially deaf, suffers from double vision and has disfiguring facial injuries. The court also heard the company, which employs 23 people and has been in business for 22 years had, until this incident, an exemplary safety record. Fining the company, Judge Neil Denison QC said: “Mr Pettigrove fell and was gravely injured and some injuries will result in permanent disability. “Plainly the defendant company was very much at fault for allowing the situation to happen. It is plain the lack of action taken by the company fell far below the requisite standard.” 12:27 Tuesday 17th December 2002