Construction Accidents Page 9

Construction Accidents Page #9

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

 

SCDOT Worker Killed Near Blacksburg; Fellow Worker Runs Over Victim With Dump Truck
POSTED: 2:04 p.m. EDT August 11, 2003
BLACKSBURG, S.C. – A South Carolina Department of Transportation worker is dead after an accident near Blacksburg. It happened around 8:45 this morning on Bluebird Lane. Troopers told WYFF News 4 that Buford W. Phillips of Gaffney was backing up a dump truck loaded with eight tons of asphalt when he ran over another DOT worker. The worker was pronounced dead at the scene. He has not yet been identified. No charges have been filed. Stay tuned to WYFF News 4 and TheCarolinaChannel.com for the latest information.

Injured construction worker released from Medical Center
By Brad Greenberg DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
A construction worker at the Physics and Astronomy Building work site was released from the hospital Saturday after being pinned by a forklift Aug. 4. The accident happened around 12:30 p.m. when Anthony Roman, 22, an employee of glass contracting company Marc Anthony Glazing, attempted to stabilize the forklift’s load of more than 30 panes of glass, according to witnesses at the scene. “I just stopped for a minute, and the next thing I knew I was caught under (the forklift),” Roman said Aug. 7 from the intensive care unit at the UCLA Medical Center. According to an investigation by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Roman was pulled under the forklift when his right foot interfered with the tire tread as the forklift wheeled around the perimeter of the construction project. Roman said his legs suffered no injuries other than a dull aching, but the driver side’s front tire broke seven ribs and his left shoulder. The right side of his face was forced against the ground, leaving him bleeding from his mouth, nose and ears, according to CAL OSHA. Roman was in critical condition when he arrived at UCLA Medical Center. Amy Waddell, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said patients who are in critical condition display unstable vital signs, may be unconscious or are in jeopardy of dying. The accident occurred a week after Marc Anthony Glazing arrived on campus to install windows in the new Physics and Astronomy Building. The forklift was driven by David Strobridge, another employee of Marc Anthony Glazing, according to CAL OSHA. Strobridge did not return multiple phone calls for comment last week. CAL OSHA investigator Jose Cedro said it is not clear what caused the accident and that his investigation is focusing on whether Marc Anthony Glazing is at fault. The owner of Marc Anthony Glazing could not be reached for comment after several phone calls last week. Though Roman said he was scared when he was trapped under the forklift and bleeding heavily, he is not upset about what happened. “I’m over it; accidents happen,” he said. “The important thing is I am alive.” Accidents regularly happen on construction sites, but they’re rarely of this caliber, Cedro said. “I have seen several accidents with forklifts, but this is the first time the whole body was run over,” he said.

UPDATE Family of Highway Flagman Crushed to Death to Receive $3 Million in Settlement of Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against JDM Materials, Inc.
8/11/03 2:24:00 PM 
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 11 /U.S. Newswire/ — As a highway safety flagman on the Route 202 reconstruction project, Robert Boyle, 60 of Philadelphia, knew how important it was to be visible to anybody behind the wheel, whether the vehicle was a passenger car or a six-ton concrete truck. But on July 23, 2001, being clearly visible in the rear-view mirror of the driver of a JDM Materials, Inc. concrete truck he was directing wasn’t good enough. Tragically and inexplicably, Anthony Matthews, the driver, backed his more than 35-ton truck right over Boyle. The firm of Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, represented Robert’s widow, in a lawsuit against JDM Materials. Shortly before the case was scheduled for trial in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the case was settled with JDM agreeing to pay compensatory and punitive damages in the amount of $3 million. But for Joan Boyle the personal suffering, and her concern for the safety of other construction workers, is far from over. “Bob was so careful on the job and so concerned for the safety of his co-workers that Joan and others who loved him can only hope and pray that work zones become safer places because of her husband’s sacrifice,” said Robert J. Mongeluzzi. “There was absolutely no reason for the driver of that truck to continue backing up at a high rate of speed once he saw Robert in his mirror. His haste and negligence cost Robert Boyle his life,” added Mongeluzzi’s co-counsel John T. Dooley. Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, PC is dedicated to the representation of people who have been seriously or fatally injured. With offices in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the firm specializes in highly complex cases including those involving catastrophic construction site and other workplace accidents, product and premises liability, and medical malpractice. Mongeluzzi is also President of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. 

Collapse kills 7
An under-construction factory warehouse collapsed on Saturday afternoon, burying more than 80 workers in Xiamen, Fujian Province. As of yesterday morning, seven workers had been confirmed dead and 38 others injured seriously. City officials said yesterday that the two-story building was being built without ap-proval from local authorities. No professional personnel organized the construction work. Lin Tianhou, a local villager, was hired to do the work, Xiamen officials said. The building was being constructed for the Qunxin Machinery Factory in Gaolin Village, in the city’s Huli District. Workers were pouring cement into the structure at about 5:30 pm when the building caved in, burying the 80-odd workers, according to national media reports. More than 40 workers escaped and by 10 pm, another 43 were recovered and taken to a hospital. Officials that it was the most serious work site accident in the local construction industry in the past few years. They confirmed that the workers, mostly without necessary qualifications, went against safety standards, used fewer construction materials than designed, and hurried the work process to meet a deadline, all attributing to the cave-in. The structure, with a planned floor area of 3,000 square meters, was also poorly designed, they said. The vertical supporting structures couldn’t stand the weight of the concrete and collapsed after only 20 percent of the concrete had been poured, officials said. 

Gas Main Leaking, Local Roads Closed
A ruptured gas line along Highway 124 in Gwinnett County shut down traffic between Lenora Church Road and Ashworth Lake Road Monday afternoon. A construction crew severed the line about 10 a.m. Monday, authorities say. The accident resulted in the evacuation of about 200 people at a nearby medical complex. A 300 foot hotzone is being maintained, while authorities have yet to confirm when the leak will be repaired and the closed roads reopened. Gwinnett Fire, Hazmat, and Atlanta Light and Gas crews were called to the scene.

 

One Dead, 15 Migrant Workers Injured as Building Collapses
At least one migrant worker was killed and 15 others injured in a building collapse in east China’s Fujian Province Saturday evening. Workers at the site said nearly 100 migrant workers were at the construction site in Xiamen when the building collapsed, and many were buried. An unspecified number of injured workers have been sent to several local hospitals, and Zhongshan Hospital handled 16 injuredmen. One of the workers died from with serious head injuries. A rescue operation was still underway and the total number of the casualties was still not clear by press time. The workers were adding a second storey to the building when the accident took place at around 6 pm. 

UPDATE Worker died from head trauma, autopsy finds
By JENNIE TUNKIEICZ Last Updated: Aug. 9, 2003
Racine – A fall from a great height and severe head trauma will most likely be listed as the the cause of death of a Milwaukee man who was involved in a construction site accident in Racine last week, Racine County Medical Examiner Thomas Terry said Thursday. Terry said an autopsy by the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office revealed no heart problems or other natural causes that would have caused Zebedke Richardson to fall 30 to 40 feet from a scaffolding Monday. Terry said he had not received a final report from Milwaukee County, but it is not believed that any other findings will be released. Robinson fell from scaffolding and was impaled on a 5-inch bolt at a construction site near Batten Airport at Mount Pleasant St. and South St. He was 55. Richardson was a 12-year employee of C.D. Smith Construction of Fond du Lac. The company is building a basin for the city’s Water and Wastewater Utilities. The accident happened Monday afternoon, and Richardson died at 8:50 p.m. after neurosurgery at St. Mary’s Medical Center, Terry said. Terry said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating the incident. A review by the Racine Police Department concluded that the incident was an industrial site accident and not a criminal incident, Sgt. William Macemon said. 

Construction worker listed critical after fall

By RICHARD LIEBSON THE JOURNAL NEWS August 9, 2003
WHITE PLAINS — A construction worker was in critical condition yesterday after falling headfirst three stories down a duct shaft at the $325 million City Center project in White Plains. Louis Ackerman and another worker were in the shaft, located next to a stairwell, about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when police said Ackerman accidentally fell about 50 feet to the bottom of the shaft. He was rushed to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he underwent emergency surgery for a skull fracture, spleen injury and blood on his brain. Ackerman, who police believe is in his 40s, was listed in critical condition yesterday. Police did not have his address, but were told by fellow workers that he lives in Brewster. City building inspectors and officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were called to the site immediately and returned yesterday to try to determine the cause of the accident. White Plains Building Commissioner Michael Gismondi said that work on the site has not been halted, but that developer Louis Cappelli “will be issued a minimum of three or four summonses for safety violations by us, plus whatever OSHA decides to do.” He would not elaborate, but police said the men were apparently working without safety rails on the scaffold and were not wearing safety harnesses. “I can’t tell you the specific violations right now, other than to say they are for safety issues,” Gismondi said. “It’s an ongoing investigation.” Brian Connolly, assistant director for OSHA’s regional office in Tarrytown, said he knew little about the accident late yesterday afternoon. “Our inspectors are out there right now, and I’m waiting to hear from them,” he said. “The investigation has just begun.” Cappelli did not return a call seeking comment yesterday. Police said Ackerman works for Precision Carpentry. Officials from the White Plains-based company could not be reached for comment yesterday. Police Lt. Nick Kralik said witnesses told investigators that Ackerman and another man were finishing up their work when Ackerman asked the other man for a measurement. The man told police he heard a noise, turned around, and saw Ackerman fall down the shaft. “We’ve determined that there was no crime committed, and we’ve turned over all of the witness statements to OSHA,” Kralik said. The accident marked the second time this year that a worker has fallen down a shaft at the City Center site, at Main Street and Mamaroneck Avenue. In March, Alvin Burgos of Yonkers was injured when he fell from the 16th to the 13th floor of a 35-story apartment tower under construction at 222 Main St. after removing wooden support beams from an elevator shaft. Burgos’ fall was broken by plywood on the 13th floor. Earlier, a worker was injured when he stepped into a hole and hurt his leg; in another incident, a worker was hit by a pipe. On June 17, 2002, Richard Ellis of Thornwood, a 40-year-old worker, was killed after a bundle of concrete reinforcing bars fell more than 50 feet and crushed him at a hotel-apartment construction site Bank and Main streets in White Plains. Another worker was hurt. Scheduled to open in October, the City Center will contain 15 movie screens, a community theater and thousands of square feet of restaurant and retail space. The project also includes two 35-story apartment towers. A $40 million garage is being constructed by Cappelli and the city. 

Rabat worker still on danger list but in stable condition 
by Charlot Zahra, di-ve news ([email protected]) 
GWARDAMANGIA, Malta (di-ve news) — 09 August 2003 1215 CET — Clint Borg, the 18-year-old man of Rabat who fell off around one storey from a scaffolding while doing works on the façade of a building at Bahrija on Wednesday afternoon, was still reported to be on the danger list but was in a stable condition, Police told di-ve.com on Saturday morning. The accident took place at around 1830 CET at Raddet ir-Roti Street in Bahrija, when for some reason or another the worker lost his balance and fell off. A fellow worker of Bahrija called for an ambulance to be sent on site. Borg was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was certified with grievous head injuries and in danger of dying. Duty Magistrate Giovanni Grixti is conducting the inquiry on the case and has appointed various experts to assist him. Police Inspector Marthese Micallef from the Rabat District is leading the investigations on this case. 

Gas leak forces Miromar evacuation 
reported by Jessica Ritter
ESTERO, August 8, 2003 — Thousands of people doing some rainy-day shopping at the Miromar Outlets had to be evacuated just before 11:30 a.m. Friday after a construction crew ruptured a natural gas line. Business returned to normal by early afternoon, thanks to crews that controlled the leak and Mother Nature, whose strong winds helped dissipate the gas. A worker from an electric company broke through the pip with a backhoe. Greg Hughes was cooking inside Wallaby Joe’s when he says he smelled the leak. “The restaurant filled up immediately. We had the back door open and the gas leak’s 20 feet away,” Hughes said. Construction worker Steve Denton was even closer. “You just hear it rushing out of the pipe,” Denton said. “It was under the ground when he put its forks in and hit it. He ran and I ran and just told everybody to get out of the building.” The 16,000 square foot expansion project is about half way complete. But all work came to a halt as firefighters evacuated the entire complex. Mall managers say nasty weather early Friday pulled thousands of people indoors to shop. And although it hurt business, they say the evacuation was necessary. Shopper Claire Merchant agreed. “I think it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when you’ve got children,” she said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reportedly investigating the incident. The electric company, Current Electric, had no comment on the accident. 

Man freed from collapsed trench
By Associated Press Saturday, August 09, 2003 – ANCHORAGE 
An industrial accident Thursday night left a man trapped in a trench for about three hours Thursday near Eagle River. Homeowner Forest Crane was working a 9-deep trench behind his mobile home about six miles up Eagle River Road when the trench collapsed. “He was covered up to about mid-thigh. There were a lot of rocks and stuff around him. He just couldn’t move,” said firefighter and paramedic Ward Hepper told KTUU-TV. About 20 firefighters from the Anchorage Fire department’s special trench rescue unit responded. They used plywood to stabilize the sides of the banks before they climbed down to rescue the man. “They used the air system in the trench rescue, shored everything up, made everything safe and clean, got down in the bottom and just had to keep digging. Finally got him loose,” Hepper said. “There was a lot of water in the bottom of the trench, along with the dirt, so it was kind of like an Inlet-mud rescue inside a trench rescue.” Hepper said one part of the bank had a crack in it. “When the cars were driving, or the heavy trucks were driving on Eagle River Road, it was making the crack move. That’s why we had to stabilize everything so it didn’t cave in.” 

Crane overturns onto construction site, man injured 
Sunday, 10 August 2003 
MALE, Aug 10 (HNS) — A crane overturned on Saturday onto a construction site of H. Athireege in Male, seriously injuring a man. Adam Mueen, who was observing the work on the site, ducked from the falling crane and jumped to the ground, landing heavily, breaking his right leg and receiving injuries to his left leg. Around 4:15pm local time, the crane belonging to Maldives Transport and Contracting Company overturned onto the construction site of Athireege, the residence of Maldives’ first president Mohamed Amin. Construction work is carried out by Laiko Construction and its supervisor Ali Husham told Haveeru that the framework of the first floor of the building was damaged in the accident. MTCC officials refused to comment on the accident when contacted. However, in an interview to Voice of Maldives by police, Major Ibrahim Latheef said that the crane overturned because the planks supporting the crane’s pivots snapped, and that one of the pivots had also sunk into the ground. This may have occurred because the crane may have been burdened beyond its supporting capacity, Latheef said. 

Construction worker killed in scaffolding accident
August 6, 2003 (Chicago) — A construction worker was fatally injured when a falling object struck him on the head at a site on the city’s North Side. The 45-year-old was working at the Sunrise assisted living residence in the 2700-block of North Clark around 2 p.m. when the accident occurred. OSHA is on the scene. The man, whose identity has not been released, reportedly worked for Schwindler Construction Company. 

Carl Junction Worker Injured
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
A construction worker is injured while working on the Carl Junction Intermediate school. The worker fell through the roof, falling more than 20 feet. He was working on the damage from last May`s deadly tornadoes. The man was working through western fireproofing, a subcontractor through RES Construction. The man was taken to Freeman hospital for possible hip injuries. Construction has stopped until a cause of the accident can be explained.

UPDATE Contractor Fined For Deadly Trench Accident; OSHA Says Company Failed To Train Workers
A Warwick-based contractor is facing almost $90,000 in fines stemming from a February trench collapse that killed a worker. Walter Gorski, 33, of East Providence, was working on an 11-foot-deep sewer line in Woonsocket when the walls collapsed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the accident could have been prevented had Gorski’s employer supplied proper protection against cave-ins. OSHA said the workers had not been trained to recognize trenching hazards. Gorski worked for Greenwood Plumbing, Heating and Solar Inc. The plumbing contractor did business as Mr. Rooter. 

Worker finally freed after 5 hours in mud
By Robert Perez Sentinel Staff Writer August 6, 2003
SANFORD — Kelly Gibson probably didn’t think twice about climbing out of the hole he and his co-workers had dug in the alley behind Dorothy Brazzell’s house. He had climbed out of hundreds of holes and trenches during his 15 years with the Sanford utility department. But Tuesday he found his leg stuck fast in the trench. The wet, heavy mud at the bottom clung to him like a leech, and there was little the 39-year-old could do to free himself. When Gibson’s co-workers jumped in to dig him out, they accidentally broke a line that began to fill the hole with water and quickly turned what was an embarrassing situation into a five-hour rescue drama. Dozens of firefighters from Sanford and Seminole County worked against time and the elements to free Gibson. Victims in trench collapses can die from compression injuries caused by tons of dirt and sand pressing on their extremities. The longer they’re trapped, the greater the danger. But this situation was different. Rescuers were faced with pumping out hundreds of gallons of mud from around Gibson, who was buried up to his waist. But the more they pumped out, the more mud filled the hole, said Stan Human, Seminole County battalion chief. Crews who worked in and around the hole behind 807 Rosalia Drive made little progress against the thick, black muck that held Gibson captive about 6 feet below the surrounding dirt and grass of the alleyway. Even after three hours of feverish work by rescuers using shovels, 5-gallon buckets, a backhoe and a truck with a giant vacuum cleaner, Gibson was no closer to being free. Efrem Session, who looked on from a fenced yard about 20 feet from the trench, pleaded with firefighters. “Hey boss man, make sure you get him out,” he called out. “That’s my brother man.” Session said he has known Gibson for 10 years, about as long as his sister, Felicia, has dated Gibson. “I know he’s scared and probably anxious to get out of there,” he said. As the rescue wore on into its fourth hour, the weather began to work against firefighters. Dark clouds moved in from the northwest, and heavy rain and lightning came down by 4:30 p.m. That’s when rescuers changed their tactics. Instead of continuing the losing battle to pump the mud out, they decided to dig a deeper hole next to Gibson and let the mud fall away from him. Felicia Session looked on nervously and complained of a pounding headache as a backhoe dug deep into the wet ground next to her fiancé. She tried to joke with friends and family but admitted she was scared and anxious. “I just want to see him,” she said. But she didn’t worry as much about how Gibson was handling himself. Two years ago, Gibson nearly lost part of his foot in a lawn mower accident, but he remained calm throughout the incident, Felicia Session said. “He’s a hero because he doesn’t panic,” she said. Shortly after 6 p.m., a light rain resumed over the rescue, then suddenly Gibson was being pulled out. A cheer erupted from the crowd of onlookers as his arms, then head, came into view. Soon Gibson’s nearly limp body was being put onto a medical stretcher for the trip to Central Florida Regional Hospital. He showed little emotion, but his face was a portrait of exhaustion and relief. Calls of, “God is good” came from the crowd with the refrain, “All the time.” Dr. Todd Husty, Seminole County’s medical director, said Gibson was doing remarkably well. Gibson’s vital signs were monitored throughout the five-hour ordeal and remained steady. “If I were his doctor, I’d send him home tonight,” Husty said. 

Worker burned in house fire 
By Andrew Lightman / Staff Writer Tuesday, August 5, 2003
An unidentified contractor was burned when a fire erupted around him in the third floor of the Lake Avenue apartment he was renovating, fire officials said. The homeowner, Wangni Tian, said the employee of the contractor, SteveWorks, was up on the third floor sanding and varnishing the floor at about 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, when the fire began. Tian was on the first floor, and evacuated as soon as she heard the alarm go off. Firefighters were quick to arrive, and observed burns on his arms and chest, before he was taken away in an ambulance to Newton Wellesley Hospital. His status was unknown as of deadline. Tian, who lives in the downstairs apartment, was renovating the upstairs so she could rent it out. Looking on as firefighters cut away pieces of her roof to keep the fire from re-igniting, she could only blame the worker. “A man was working on the floor,” she said. “I think they were putting on the first coat [ofvarnish]. That’s the combuster maybe.” “Definitely combustible fumes,” said fire chief Joseph Lacroix. “It’s the source of the ignition that is unknown.” A spark or a hot object likely could have started the fire, Lacroix said. The fire spread up to the roof, but the second floor suffered only water damage. The first floor was not harmed in the fire. When told by Lacroix that most of the floor the worker was varnishing had been destroyed, Tian was horrified. “They should have known better,” she said. “I am so sorry to hire these people.” Two alarms were sounded to reinforce firefighters who had been in full uniform for two and a half hours. Earlier in the afternoon, a water-main break on Needham Street forced firefighters to dress in their 100 lb. gear. They were called to Lake Avenue immediately after. Several firefighters, covered in sweat and soot, were given oxygen once the blaze had been put out. None required more serious medical attention. 

Fire ruins attic
Tuesday, August 05, 2003 By Christine Tognetti 
SAN MARTIN – What started off as a normal installation of a water softener turned into an attic fire Monday afternoon causing more than $250,000 worth of damage. Elouise Hartman was coming home from a quick trip the store when she noticed gusts of smoke in the sky. “I could tell it was in my neighborhood, but as I got closer I started to realize this might be my house,” Hartman said. The smoke was pouring out of her attic at 12600 Sycamore Road in San Martin, where an employee of Culligan Water was installing a new water softener pipe. According to California Department of Forestry Fire Capt. Paramedic Mike Matheisen, while installing the pipe, the sparks from the welding ignighted the insulation causing the fire. CDF/South County responded quickly with five fire engines, 22 firefighters and two fire chiefs. They were able to contain the fire quickly and minimize the damage. The fire was located directly above the master bedroom. Matheisen said firefighters used an approach where they located the fire, drew a line and then pushed the fire back by entering the ceiling from the area not yet burned. “We approached the fire very aggressively, and we’re lucky to have had this contained when we did,” Matheisen said. “The wind was blowing and some of the skylights were open in the attic. We could have lost much more.” Hartman sat on the lawn and watched the firefighters save what they could of her home. “I just can’t believe this,” she said. “I just had a new roof put on two months ago.” 

ISU project scorched
By Steven Friederich and Tanna Barry – Journal Writers
POCATELLO – It took only moments for a fire to start on the roof of Idaho State University’s yet-to-be completed performing arts center on Monday, and it took firefighters less than an hour to put it out. Damage did not appear to be extensive. The fire on the roof of the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center started when sparks from a welder’s torch ignited insulation and tar paper on the west side of the concert hall roof around noon. The fire spread quickly from the rubber roofing material to the foam underneath, filling the sky with “one huge, big, black plume” of smoke, according to Travis Packer, who was working at the nearby Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ stake center. Pocatello Fire Department Division Chief Kevin Quick confirmed the sparks as the fire’s source. He said a welder was on the roof when the fire started, but the welder and 104 other construction workers on site were evacuated within 50 feet of the building. No one was hurt. ISU officials said construction crews uld estimate damage today to determine how long the construction was delayed and how much it will cost to replace the charred roofing, said ISU’s Vice President for University Advancement Kent Tingey. Workers started the roofing only last week, said Sletten Construction spokesman Josh Guisti. Sletten is the main contractor for the $35 million building, which is scheduled for completion next fall. Steel underneath the roof served to protect the rest of the building from any fire damage, Quick said. When Darrell Buffaloe, ISU’s physical plant director, arrived on scene, he said it looked like flames reached 20 feet above the roof of the concert hall. He could see the orange flames jumping while the dark smoke filled the sky. “It scared the daylights out of me, but it looked worse than it really was,” he said. “It is just unfortunate.” Buffaloe said he doesn’t believe the fire will slow construction much because the fire was limited to just the roof over the concert hall. The fire was reported at 12:21 p.m. and it took about 40 minutes to extinguish, Quick said. After the fire was officially out, firefighters stayed on the roof to control “hot spots.” Quick said he had to call in almost everyone on his force – including a couple off-duty firefighters – to control the blaze. A tower truck was used to handle the fire because stairs do not reach the roof. Tingey said the building is insured by both Sletten and the state. 

Worker electrocuted while renovating Casselberry movie theater
CASSELBERRY, Fla. A construction worker helping renovate a movie theater was electrocuted Tuesday.
The worker was rushed to Florida Hospital in Altamonte Springs shortly after the 1 p.m. accident, said Lt. Dennis Stewart, a Casselberry Police Department spokesman. The worker’s name was not released. Moments after the accident, a co-worker rushed next door to the Seminole County sheriff’s district 5 office looking for help, said Steve Olson, a sheriff’s office spokesman. A sheriff’s investigator and a sergeant responded, Olson said. “They didn’t do CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) because he was breathing and had a pulse,” Olson said. “They were trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t responding.” Casselberry police and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the incident, Stewart said. 

Construction Worker Injured When Tree Falls On Bulldozer
POSTED: 5:02 p.m. EDT August 4, 2003
RALEIGH — A construction worker was injured Monday when a tree fell on his bulldozer at a work site in Raleigh. The accident occured at the 700 block of North Ridge Drive. A contstruction crew was working to clear area trees when one fell on the bulldozer injuring the operator. The worker was taken to WakeMed with injuries to his head and back. Officials did not reveal the extent of the man’s injuries. 

Crane Topples At Flagler County Resort; No Injuries Reported 
PALM COAST, Fla. — A large crane that was being used at a Flagler County resort construction site toppled Tuesday morning. The accident at the Ocean Beach Resort caused substantial damage to a condominium under construction at the site, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported. No injuries were reported, and most of the construction workers were inside when the crane toppled, reports indicated. The Ocean Beach Resort is part of the Ocean Hammock subdivision near Palm Coast. Stay with WESH NewsChannel 2 and WESH.com for further details.

Woman injured during demolition 
Aug 05, 2003
A woman is in Auckland Hospital with minor injuries after a wall collapsed onto two cars in Greenlane. Police say the building was being demolished when the accident happened at the intersection of Great South and Greenlane Roads shortly before 6pm. An eye witness, Mark Winter, says the back of a crane smashed into the wall, sending rubble crashing over the footpath and onto the road. He says the entire passenger side of the woman’s car was crushed under a pile of bricks. Mark Winter says had the woman been six inches closer to the footpath she would have been crushed. Police had blocked surrounding roads, amid fears people could be trapped under the rubble and fire and ambulance crews from throughout the city rushed to the scene.

 

Worker stuck in chest-high mud rescued 
By MARCIA LANGHENRY Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer 
A construction worker stuck in chest-high mud was rescued by firefighters at noon today. The man’s identity was not released but he was not injured, said Forsyth County Fire Chief Danny Bowman. The construction site is behind Lowe’s on Peachtree Parkway in the Johns Creek area of south Forsyth County near the Fulton County border. Bowman said he was not certain how the accident happened. There was a large backhoe in the area, he said, and he guessed it appeared to the construction worker that the ground was more stable than it was. When he stepped off the backhoe, he became trapped when he sunk in the thick mud up to his chest. The rescue took 35 minutes and involved 15 firefighters. Bowman said they laid out an extension ladder to form a solid base to work from, then surrounded the man with plywood. Firefighters then stood on the plywood and manually pulled the man upward and free of the suction created by the mud and water. The ground is saturated from recent rains, Bowman said. On Sunday, the county received 2 inches and recently set a record for rainfall in July. 

2 labourers die after fatal fall
Express News Service
Pune, August 2: Two labourers had a fatal fall from the third floor of a building under construction near Chinchwadgaon old octroi post today. Police said the accident occurred while the labourers were removing the bamboo scaffolding. Police identified the duo as Suresh Suhan Verma (30) of Kunal Residency, Thergaon, and Sunil Pujari (25) of Pavana Nagar, Kalewadi. The incident occurred at Krunal Riverside, a building coming up near Moraya Mangal Karyalaya adjacent to octroi post. A case of accident has been registered.

UPDATE Firm fined over worker’s death 
A building firm has been fined £150,000 after one of its employees was run over and killed by a forklift truck. Harold Moran, 54, was knocked down as the truck reversed out of a compound at the site at Ashdown Downs in Kirkby, Merseyside, in September 2000. On Monday, McLean Homes North West and Cheshire Ltd was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £56,017 costs after being found guilty of a breach of health and safety regulations. The firm had pleaded not guilty, but was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court. Mr Moran was struck by the truck as he walked across a gateway at the site, where 91 homes were being built, and died at the scene. ‘Analyse dangers’ The Health and Safety Executive is warning other firms about the importance of managing vehicle safety. Neil Jamieson, Health and Safety Executive inspector, said: “On average around 70 people are killed and 1,200 seriously injured each year in workplace transport accidents. “These accidents are mainly caused by people being struck or run over by moving vehicles when reversing particularly in areas where people are not properly segregated from vehicle movements. “It is vital that managers of all types of workplace – not only construction sites – analyse the potential dangers posed by workplace transport and then take suitable safety measures to avoid these risks.”

 

Safety worker hit by car, dies in construction zone
By Pedro Ruz Gutierrez Sentinel Staff Writer August 2, 2003
Grady Thomas Hill, 38, lived and breathed safety. As a highway traffic-maintenance supervisor, Hill knew the hazards of roadway construction sites. On his last night of installing tape stripes on the express E-Pass lanes on the Central Florida GreeneWay, Hill was killed when a motorist slammed into a construction areaearly Friday morning.Two other workers — Paul Kimbro, 44, of Oviedo and Charles Starett, 43, of Geneva — suffered serious injuries. “He supervised safety and lane markings for traffic shifts and was responsible for seeing that all the safety precautions were taken,” said Dave Freytag, a friend of the Hill family and fellowworshipper at First Baptist Church of Tuscawillain Seminole County. “It’s kind of ironic.” Hill worked for Martin K. Eby Construction of Maitland,which is remodeling the University Boulevard interchange. Kimbro and Starett worked for subcontractor Sun Ray Paving and Construction. A few hours before the 1:55 a.m. accident, Hill had helped set up the bright-orange cones and the lighted arrow signaling the closed left southbound lane. The Florida Highway Patrol arrested Corey C. Price, 34, of Wellington on charges of vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter. State records show Price is a convicted DUI offender with arrests in Volusia County for driving a car under the influence in 1994 and operating a boat while drunk in 1995. FHP troopers described him as “intoxicated” but aware that someone had been killed. “He was a little unsteady on his feet,” said FHP Sgt. Ron Behnke, a traffic-homicide investigator. “And he knew he had killed somebody. He kept making remarks that there was a body lying over there, so he’s aware of what happened.” FHP Trooper Kim Miller, an agency spokeswoman, said Price’s 2000 Nissan Maxima was estimated to be traveling between 60 and 80 mph when he hit the workers as he entered the E-Pass lane. Miller said witnesses reported seeing Price’s car swerve from side to side andknock down the orange cones. Authorities said the area is under constant construction and that shifting lanes may add to the confusion. Some motorists have complained, said Bryan Douglas, communications and marketing manager fortheOrlando-Orange County Expressway Authority. The dangers of working in such high-traffic areas are obvious, Douglas said, and that is why most of the work is done at night or when it is not raining. “Whether you do it at night or at the peak of traffic hours during the day, it’s just a dangerous place to be doing construction work,” Douglas said. Construction crews sometimes employ off-duty FHP troopers to alert drivers of their work, but it’s not a requirement. There were no troopers on duty Friday. A Martin K. Eby officialwould not discuss the use of troopers. “The issue here is speeding at night so, people, please slow down in construction zones,” said Tom Haisch, a Martin K. Eby operations manager. “It’s not a happy place here.” Hillis survived by his wife, Audrey; twin daughters Traci and Marilyn, 11; son Timothy, 9; and daughter Cathy Jo, 8. He was active in his church, where he served as chairman of the deacons. He also was involved in ministries to help the needy and young people. In a statement, the family urged the public to be cautious when driving through construction zones, not to drink and drive, and to oppose efforts to extend alcohol sales to 4 a.m. The statement noted that a husband, father, son and brother has been lost. “Why? Because a drunk driver speeding through a construction zone took his life,” the statement said. 

Construction worker falls 60 feet 
From staff reports 08/01/2003 
A construction worker was critically injured in Fairview Friday afternoon when he fell nearly 60 feet into a sewer excavation pit, fire officials said. The worker, whose name was not immediately available, fell onto a piece of metal wire and was impaled in his chest. The man was transported via Careflite to Methodist Hospital in Dallas. His condition has not been made available. Chief investigating agency, Fairview Fire Department, called McKinney’s high-angle vertical rescue team to assist with the man’s rescue. Fire fighters removed the construction worker from the 30-foot excavation pit, which was located inside another 30-foot cement casement being set for the town’s sewer system. McKinney Asst. Fire Chief Frank Roma said this is the specialized vertical rescue team’s first year in McKinney. 

2nd Skyway Construction Death Of Summer 
Saturday Aug. 2, 2003, 3:10 p.m.
(Chicago) — A worker fell 50 feet to his death Friday after he stepped on an unsupported platform while working at a construction site on the Chicago Skyway, marking the second fatality from the area in less than a month. The victim, identified by the medical examiner’s office as David Stevens, 36, fell at about 1 p.m. from the Skyway at 75th Street and Greenwood Avenue, Gresham District Sgt. Robert Orlando said. Stevens was laying a platform to pour concrete from when he stepped on a 3-by-4-foot piece of plywood that had no support under it, according to a Calumet Area detective. The worker plunged 50 feet and struck his head on the ground, the detective said. He did not know the name of the construction company the victim worked for. Stevens, of 14256 Luna Av. in Midlothian, was pronounced dead at 1:47 p.m. at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, according to a Cook County medical examiner’s office spokesman. An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday, the spokesman said. This was the second time in less than a month that a construction worker was killed falling from the Skyway. Dennis McNamara, 63, 249 Lincoln Ct. in Wood Dale, was working on the Skyway near 77th Street when he plunged to the ground at about 11:10 p.m. July 9. He died from his injuries at 12:15 a.m. July 10, according to the police and a medical examiner’s office spokesman. The Skyway viaduct from 75th to 79th Street has been undergoing reconstruction since September 2001 as the first phase of a $250 million project to improve the safety and traffic flow, according to the city Department of Transportation’s Web site. Work to on the viaduct deck between 77th and 79th streets, which involves removing the superstructure and replacing it with a filled embankment, was scheduled for completion in November.

 

Rockford Woman Killed in Construction Zone Accident
by Sean Lewis 
A Rockford woman was killed early this morning when she was struck by a drunk driver while working in a construction zone near Schaumburg. And news of the death is hitting friends and family hard here at home. 51 year old Deborah Wead was holding the “slow down” sign in a work zone at about 1:00 this morning when she was killed. Police say a 28-year-old Lemont man was driving drunk when he hit Wead, lost control of his car and crashed into a concrete barrier. News of Deborah’s death is hitting friends and family hard here in Rockford. Sometimes the hardest lessons in life are learned when another life is cut short.”I learned how to be a good person, how to be true, how to be real and how to live,” says Rachel Otto who knew Debbie Wead very well. They were roommates for 2 years, and had known each other for 4. To Rachel, Debbie was like a second mom. “I’ve never met somebody who’d just give up anything to give to somebody else to help them out. She did everything she could for me,” says Rachel. And for her family, she was a mom, and a grandmother. Rachel says she was a friend who taught life lessons well, and who’d also talked about the danger of getting hit by a car while working on a road crew job, one she’d only started in October of last year. “So many times when you talked about Debbie–we called her Weadie–talked about how this could happen to her and it was never real. It was never real to me until now,” says Rachel. She says this accident was the waste of a good life, one she already misses. “I walk around my house, and this is like 7 o’clock this morning when she usually come home and she didn’t come home, and it hurts–it really hurts. It really hurts that somebody this stupid went and did something stupid like that because they don’t realize what they’re doing to someone else. And now they’ve ruined somebody else’s life. Because I lost a lot when I lost her last night,” says Rachel. What she won’t lose are those lessons, especially the one she wants drivers to remember on the road before anther life, another friend is lost. “I can live on with her legacy. Try to do the best I can for her.. now that she’s gone… to pass on. But it’s just something you never get over. It doesn’t go away,” says Rachel.

2 workers die after scaffolding hits electrical wire 
07/29/2003 By MEAGHAN WIMS Journal staff writer Updated 12:35 p.m. 
WEST WARWICK — Two construction workers were killed and a third was severely burned this morning when the metal scaffolding they were carrying came into contact with a 7,200-volt electrical wire, the police said. The men were working at a three-story house on Pleasant Street when the accident occurred at about 9 a.m. Jared Gendron, 18, from the Scituate village of Hope, and Thomas Walker, 24, of Coventry were electrocuted, an official at Kent County Hospital said. The third man was in good condition at the hospital. The men were moving the scaffolding when they apparently lost control of it, police said. It touched the bare, copper wire, which is about 30 feet off the ground and runs parallel to the house. “We are not putting blame on anyone,” said police Lt. Albert A. Giusti Jr. “They were hired to do a job, and, unfortunately, this accident occurred.” The men had a permit to do roofing and siding work on the three-family home at 22-26 Pleasant St. They had been working at the house for the past several weeks, according to neighbors. — With reports from the Associated Press. 

I-95 northbound reopens near Jacksonville after crane wreck
Associated Press July 29, 2003, 11:00 AM EDT
WORLD GOLF VILLAGE — The northbound lanes of Interstate 95 reopened early Tuesday, about 12 hours after a crane being hauled by a truck struck and heavily damaged the overpass at the World Golf Village exit south of Jacksonville. All northbound traffic had been detoured to State Road 16 while temporary repairs were made to the overpass and a broken concrete bridge span was removed, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The southbound traffic was not affected by Monday’s accident. Two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane remain open on International Golf Parkway, which crosses the interstate on the overpass. Truck driver Marvin Castleberry, 38, of Hilliard, was flown by air ambulance to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition. “The gentleman working for the company, Southern Crane, was doing a job at the World Golf Village, forgot to put the boom down, was getting northbound from IGP (International Golf Parkway),” Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Etcher said. “With it up in the air, it struck the overpass.” While the crash was not related to the current road construction in the area, Superior Construction, the contractor for the widening of I-95, was used to remove the damaged beam and make repairs to the overpass, the Department of Transportation said. The Florida Department of Transportation estimates preliminary work to make the overpass safe cost $200,000, and planning will begin for a permanent fix. “They’ve got to cast a new beam, and they’ve got to go ahead and schedule that construction work,” DOT engineer Jim Gant said. 

Elementary school construction accident sends 2 to hospital
(Columbia) July 26, 2003 – An accident happened shortly before 11:00am Saturday in front of Burnside Elementary School. Construction workers have been building a covered walkway here but Saturday their work site turned dangerous a sheet of metal hit two of them. One end of the walkway was already covered with sheet metal Saturday the construction crews started working on the roof on the opposite side. They were using a crane to lift the sheet metal when officials say it became unbalanced and slipped hitting two young workers. Both of the workers had serious injuries. One of the patients that was transported had injuries to the head and chest area. Another patient was transported for near amputation to the foot and toe region. Both were conscious and alert at the time of transport. The two men are said to be in stable condition Saturday night at Palmetto Richland Hospital. No word yet on what exactly caused the accident or if the men were wearing protective gear when the accident happened. 

Man Killed When Trench Collapses
(LOUISVILLE, July 29th, 2003, 2:30 p.m.) — A Senninger Plumbing Company employee was killed Tuesday in a trench cave-in on Dixie Highway. Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Chief Doug Atwell says the man never had a chance when the dirt walls fell just after noon. Atwell says the man was repairing a water line under a Circuit City parking lot. Crews were still trying to unearth the man’s body from more than a ton of dirt late Tuesday afternoon, and were expected to continue working well into the evening. 
It’s the first fatal trench collapse in Jefferson County in the past 10 years.

Millsboro man killed by nail gun; Brothers were working on new house 
By CHIP GUY Sussex Bureau reporter
A 29-year-old Millsboro man was killed this week when his brother accidentally shot him in the chest with a nail gun as the two worked on a house in Ocean View, police said Thursday. Camillo Juandelos died at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md., Wednesday evening, after being taken there by helicopter after an afternoon incident in a house under construction in the Village at Bear Trap Dunes. Ocean View Police Chief Kenneth McLaughlin said the victim and his brother, Jesus, 25, were framing a wall about 4 p.m. Wednesday. Jesus Juandelos bent over the floor using the compressed-air nail gun, then stood up quickly and turned around to call for his brother, who he thought was across the room, McLaughlin said. Camillo Juandelos, though, already was behind his brother and walked into the nail gun as Jesus turned around. The gun discharged, firing a 3-inch nail into Juandelos’ chest, McLaughlin said. “I think it was just a strange thing that happened,” McLaughlin said. “It looks like a very, very unfortunate accident.” Police said Thursday they were continuing their investigation. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration also was investigating. Because Juandelos died in Maryland, the body was taken to Baltimore where an autopsy was to be performed. The incident was the second involving a nail gun at a housing construction site in Ocean View within the last year. In August, a 37-year-old Dover man injured himself when he pulled a nail gun by its cord. The gun fired a 3-inch nail into his chest, seriously wounding him. Federal workplace safety officials said they do not track the number of accidents involving nail guns. But a spokeswoman for the safety agency said Thursday that fatal injuries are three times more common in the construction industry than in all other industries. The average number of fatalities for all industries was 4.3 for every 100,000 workers in 2001, according to Leni Uddyback-Fortson, in the agency’s Philadelphia office. The construction industry’s rate in 2001 was 13.3 for every 100,000 workers. Camillo Juandelos was employed by a subcontractor from Arlington, Va. The owner of that company, Frisly Rosales Construction, could not be reached Thursday. In a prepared statement issued Thursday, the developer of The Village at Bear Trap Dunes – Carl M. Freeman Communities – said all contractors and subcontractors working at the site would be reminded of required safety procedures. A spokeswoman could not be reached for more details. McLaughlin said the nail gun has been turned over to the federal agency for analysis. Uddyback-Forton said the agency’s investigation could take up to six months and could lead to fines.

Worker in danger of dying after fall 
by Charlotte Bonavia, di-ve news ([email protected]) 
VALLETTA, Malta (di-ve news) — 28 July 2003 – 2100CET — A 40-year-old Fgura man is in danger of dying after falling a height of three storeys while working at Old Hospital Street, Valletta, on Monday afternoon at around 1600CET. Police said that the accident occurred when the man fell off a plank while he was carrying out some works in a shaft of a block of apartments situated in the zone known as Camarata. An ambulance took the man to St Luke’s Hospital where he was certified as suffering grievous injuries and that he was in danger of dying. The duty magistrate was informed about the incident and appointed various experts to assist in the inquiry. Valletta district police are leading the investigations. 

Worker Falls 20 Feet At Nelson-Atkins Museum; Officials Expect Victim To Survive
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A construction worker was injured Monday morning when he fell 20 feet into a shaft outside the Nelson-Atkins Museum, KMBC’s Brenda Washington reported. The accident occurred just after 7 a.m. on the southeast side of the museum. The worker, an employee of J.E. Dunn Construction, was hoisted out of the hole and rushed to an area hospital. Officials said he suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Washington reported. The construction company is working on an expansion project for the museum. The injured worker’s name has not been released.

Bulls Head man partially severs arm in accident 
Sunday, July 27, 2003 By KAREN O’SHEA ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
A Bulls Head man partially severed his arm while using a circular saw at home yesterday. Neighbors heard Carmine Mazza, 42, of Goller Place, cry out for help around 9:20 a.m. after the lower part of his left arm was partially amputated in an accident that occurred during a home improvement project, police said. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan where doctors worked on reattaching his arm, said Police Department Spokeswoman Carmen Melendez. A hospital spokesman said Mazza was in stable condition yesterday. “When I heard him scream, I knew something real bad had happened,” said a shaken next-door neighbor, Valerie Lopiano. Mazza often works on his house or helps other homeowners on the block, neighbors said. He lives with his wife and two young sons in a semi-attached house near Willowbrook Park. It was unclear what kind of project Mazza was working on yesterday, but neighbor Rosita Benzaken saw him on the deck in his back yard shortly before the accident. “He’s a wonderful neighbor,” she said yesterday. “He will help anybody. If you need him, he’s there,” added Mrs. Lopiano. The two women credited another neighbor, Angie Careccia, with tying Mazza’s partially severed arm with towels and keeping ice on his hand until emergency service workers arrived. 

3 Fla. Construction Workers Struck By Lightning
CLEARWATER — Three construction workers eating their lunch under a large magnolia tree were struck by lightning Monday when a sudden storm came upon them. The workers were transported to local hospitals and their injuries did not appear to be life threatening, Clearwater emergency officials said. “They are feeling pretty lucky,” Clearwater Fire Lt. Wendy Cason said. The workers were eating lunch shortly after noon at an overpass construction site on U.S. Highway 19 in central Pinellas County when the tree was struck, Cason said. Other workers were near, but were not injured by the strike. The lightning was moving ahead of the storm and the workers had no warning, Cason said. “It had not begun to rain until after we arrived at the scene,” she said. “People need to be aware the lightning often proceeds the storm.” The workers were complaining of muscle tremors and internal pain, she said. “With that amount of electricity, there are possible internal injuries,” Cason said. 

UPDATE Fatal Fall at Brandeis University Worksite Leads to $46,200 in OSHA Fines for Danvers, Mass., Contractor
METHUEN, Mass. — The death of a worker who fell two stories to his death at a Waltham, Mass., construction site could have been prevented if his employer, William A. Berry & Son, had supplied required fall protection, according to citations issued by the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). William A. Berry & Son, of Danvers, Mass., general contractor on the construction of a new dormitory at Brandeis University, faces $46,200 in fines for alleged willful and serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, following the March 2 fatality. A crew of laborers was dismantling a temporary work platform on the second floor level of an unfinished stairwell when one of them fell through the partially dismantled platform to the basement level. OSHA’s inspection found that the employer had not provided fall protection for the workers. This exposed these workers to falls of almost 26 feet from the work platform. The workers had also not been instructed to recognize and avoid such fall hazards. “Falls are the number one killer in construction, having cost the lives of more than 400 American workers in 2001,” explained Richard Fazzio, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex Counties. “This case shows in the starkest terms why fall protection is an absolute necessity when employees are working six feet or more above the next level.” Berry & Son faces a fine of $42,000 for failing to provide the fall protection, while a $4,200 fine is proposed for the lack of training. A willful violation is defined by OSHA as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. A serious violation as one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to either elect to comply with them, to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. OSHA’s Methuen, Mass., area office conducted the inspection. Its telephone number is (617) 565-8110. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration 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.

 

Bridge construction accident injures six 
The Associated Press Saturday, July 26, 2003 
Crestline — Six workers were injured Thursday when a beam gave way on a bridge being constructed in southeast Kansas. The accident occurred about 4 p.m. at a construction site on Old Highway 96 between Crestline and the Missouri state line. Employees of Beachner Construction Co., St. Paul, Kan., have been working since December to replace the bridge over the Spring River. One worker was taken by helicopter with serious injuries to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Mo. The other five were taken by ambulance to area hospitals with less serious injuries, said Cherokee County Undersheriff George Kelly. George Dockery, a engineer with the Kansas Department of Transportation, said all six workers were standing on the beam, placing braces on it and preparing it for placement. One worker had just released a cable to move to another spot on the beam when the beam started to topple, throwing the workers off, Dockery said. The workers could have been more seriously injured if they had not been wearing lifelines, Dockery said. They would have fallen the 25 or 30 feet to the ground. The most seriously injured worker rode the beam all the way to the ground, suffering cuts to the head and face and leg injuries. The other workers suffered scrapes, bruises, sprains and possible broken bones, officials said. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials probably will be called in to investigate, but it is up to the construction contractor to contact the agency, Dockery said. The highway was closed in December 2002, when construction began on the $2.6 million bridge replacement project. Dockery said the accident probably would delay completion of the new bridge, which was scheduled for November.

Construction work ruptures gas line; No evacuations at any Eisenhower Drive businesses.
By NANCY POSTER Evening Sun Reporter 
Friday, July 25, 2003 – An unsuspecting worker digging a post hole behind the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Eisenhower Drive struck a natural gas line Thursday morning, sending a hissing rush of vapors into the air. The gas leak did not force the evacuation of the department store, said assistant manager Ron Kerlin. The line that was struck feeds the south side of Eisenhower Drive westward to the Rex TV store at 381 Eisenhower Drive, said Hanover firefighter Jeff Spielman. Officials at Giant Food Store and the Wendy’s and the Red Lobster restaurants said they experienced no problems related to the gas outage. Because the line is fed from two sources, workers had to dig in two locations to finally shut off the flow of gas, he said. That was accomplished by 11:30 a.m., nearly an hour and a half after the 9:53 a.m. accident. Columbia Gas workers arrived at 10:14 a.m. and had the leak stopped by 11:30 a.m., said company spokesman Rob Boulware Thursday night. There was no interruption of gas service to any other customers in the vicinity, he said. An easterly wind carried the gas plume away from the store where it dissipated over Broadway, Spielman said. “There was great concern over the necessity of it,” Spielman said of the possibility of an evacuation of the retailer. While the leak occurred at the rear of the store, behind a storage area, meters were set up inside the store to monitor the air. Part of the store’s air handling system was shut down to prevent gas from seeping into the store, Spielman said. “We were sent out here to fix damage done by an 18-wheeler truck to the fence,” said Ivan King, a worker with the contractor, which he declined to identify. The workers were using a Bobcat tractor to install a post that had held a “do not enter” sign, he said. “While digging the hole, we happened to find a gas main,” King said. Immediately, the workers saw a plume of vapors rise and heard the hissing of gas. They found the store’s manager and called 911. “It was just a tough situation,” King said. Despite the presence of emergency officials outside, it was business as usual inside the Wal-Mart. “The store was not affected in any way, shape or form,” Kerlin said, adding the store’s concern was for its sales associates and customers. Two or three store managers monitored the situation outside the store throughout the emergency, he said. 

UPDATE Investigation continues into Henrico job-site accident
Lance Martin Herald Staff Writer
JACKSON — The Northampton County Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate a construction site accident in Henrico Monday. Three workers for the South Hill, Va.-based Howerton Construction were injured when the scaffolding they were on gave way at a job site in the Whippoorwill Hills Subdivision. Chief Detective Bill Wheeler said he will review notes taken by Deputy Fontay Macon and conduct his own investigation. Macon forwarded the investigation to the detective division. Four men were on the scaffold when it tilted, causing three of the workers to plunge to the ground. Injured were Frankie Howerton, Frank Edmonds and Brandon Jones. One worker sustained a back injury, one hurt his foot and the other sustained a wrist injury. Two of the workers were transported to Community Memorial Health Center in South Hill while another was taken to Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids. Their condition reports were not available. A company representative did not immediately return phone calls this morning. 

UPDATE Road construction worker’s death is ruled a homicide; Streator man, 25, faces charges in May traffic crash 
July 25, 2003 By OMAR SOFRADZIJA of the Journal Star
PEORIA – A Streator man was legally drunk, driving aggressively and lacking a valid license in a crash that fatally injured a road construction worker in LaSalle County in May, a Peoria County coroner’s jury was told Thursday. The jury eventually ruled the death of worker John W. Crozier Jr., 40, of 805 N. Wasson St. in Streator as a homicide, concurring with LaSalle County prosecutors who earlier charged driver Douglas Black, 25, with reckless homicide and other criminal counts in connection with the death. Crozier died of head injuries at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center on May 26, four days after he was struck by a sport-utility vehicle driven by Black on Illinois Route 23 just south of Ottawa. Crozier was a flagger in the work zone, and Black was driving north. On the day of the crash, Black “veered sharply left to the southbound lane to try to get around stopped and slow traffic in the construction zone,” said LaSalle County sheriff’s Sgt. Gregory Jacobsen, before clipping the rear of a dump truck, swerving back into the northbound lane and striking Crozier around 11:15 a.m. Black had “been driving erratically” prior to the crash, Jacobsen said. “Traffic was stop-and-go in the area at the time due to the construction zone.” Jacobsen said Black had a blood-alcohol level in excess of 0.08 percent – the state’s threshold for intoxication – but he did not have precise results from a blood test. Police found several cans of beer in the rear passenger area of the SUV and an opened can of the same brand outside the vehicle at the crash site. Black had been carrying five passengers, including three children between 3 and 10 years of age. One passenger, Bryan Campagna, 24, of Streator, who was the owner of the SUV, also was injured. Earlier, prosecutors said Black – who had been taking his passengers on a fishing trip – left the scene with two of the children and attempted to hitch a ride with a bystander. Police later caught up with Black, who reportedly admitted being intoxicated. Crozier was an employee of project contractor Advanced Asphalt, a member of Ottawa Laborers Local 911 and a certified flagger. Along with two counts of reckless homicide, Black has been charged with two counts of child endangerment and single counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood-alcohol level in excess of 0.08 percent, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, and driving with a suspended or revoked drivers’ license, Jacobsen said. Black was being held this week in the LaSalle County Jail in lieu of $300,000 bond.

Worker is killed in construction accident
A construction worker was run over and killed by a heavy piece of equipment yesterday at a work site in Northeast Philadelphia. The worker, John Myers, 42, of Bensalem, was pronounced dead at Albert Einstein Medical Center. The accident occurred about 8:15 a.m. near Algon Avenue and Levick Street in Oxford Circle. Police accident investigators said Myers walked from behind a truck and apparently fell and was hit by a large backhoe-type vehicle that was backing up. The operator, identified as Willie James, 61, of West Philadelphia, did not see Myers, investigators said. James was taken to Jeanes Hospital after the accident, suffering from chest pains. He was listed in stable condition. No charges were lodged. Both men work for Seravalli Inc., a contracting firm in the Northeast. A spokesman there yesterday said, “We sincerely regret the incident and we are cooperating fully with all the parties investigating it.”

Gas explosion injures three in Brentwood 
By Lara Bricker
BRENTWOOD – Three people were injured, one seriously, in a bizarre gas explosion at a condominium development Wednesday morning. Fire officials are still investigating what led to the explosion at the Windsor Meadows condominiums on North Road at 9:30 a.m., Brentwood Deputy Fire Chief Joe Bird said. The fire department received the 911 call from a third party after the fact as the three injured men drove themselves to the hospital. Their names were not available as the fire department did not transport them, but it is believed the most seriously injured man was transported to a Boston hospital, he said. Two of the men were from Tri-State Sprinkler and one was a plumber. They had gone into a utility building on the property to repair some sprinkler pipes using a soldering torch, Bird explained. The building has a small opening in the floor, which leads to a small basement area that is about 6 feet by 8 feet in size. One man was in the basement with the torch, while another looked on through the opening in the floor and the other stood by, Bird said. “He lit the torch and when he lit the torch it caused a flash explosion,” Bird said, adding the man looking down into the hole was seriously injured. “He caught the full blast.” The three managed to get into a van and head to the hospital. “They were very lucky,” Bird said, adding the injuries could have been much worse. The fire department, with the help of the fire marshal’s office, spent all day Wednesday trying to determine what kind of gas had caused the explosion. Air samples from the area have been sent out for testing. “We’re not sure exactly what it was yet,” Bird said. In the meantime, the utility building has been blocked off so that no one can enter. 

Council Bluffs man killed in forklift rollover 
COURTNEY BRUMMER , Staff Writer 07/25/2003 
OMAHA – A Council Bluffs man was killed Thursday morning at a construction site in Omaha when a forklift rolled over on top of him. James Kirk, 42, of Council Bluffs was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident occurred at the Quality Pork International worksite in southwest Omaha around 11:20 a.m. Kirk, a forklift operator, was working for KFR Inc., a company subcontracted by Dietzel Enterprises to work on installing a support wall at the business, according to Omaha Police Sgt. Cathy Cook. Kirk was operating an extended reach forklift when the accident occurred. “It appears he had been going down a narrow, dirt road and got too close to the edge,” Cook said. While the hill on the side of the road wasn’t steep, it was enough for the forklift to lose balance and start to slide. Cook said Kirk either tried to jump from the forklift or he may have thought the forklift had stopped moving and tried to get out when it turned over. When the forklift overturned, it pinned Kirk underneath. The forklift was estimated to be roughly 18,000 pounds, Cook said. Two people at the scene witnessed the rollover and called for emergency rescue. Cook said it is believed another piece of machinery was used to lift the forklift off Kirk, and she added the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is still investigating.

 

Marysville man electrocuted on the job identified 
LAKE STEVENS — The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the name of a man who died after being electrocuted at a work site Tuesday afternoon. William Ross, 51, was using a cable to guide a piece of steel to the ground at Concrete Nor’West in the 15400 block of 84th Street NE. The crane lifting the steel hit a high-voltage power line, according to Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen. The Marysville man was taken to Providence Everett Medical Center, where he died a short time later. The medical examiner’s office ruled the death an accident. The state Department of Labor and Industries will conduct a standard investigation to determine if the company failed to protect the worker’s safety, said department spokeswoman Elaine Fischer. That investigation likely will take two to three months, she said. 

Hathaway Bridge Accident
One worker died and three others were hospitalized Wednesday morning in a construction accident on the East bound lane of the new Hathaway Bridge in Panama City Beach. The accident happened around 6:45 a.m. when a section of scaffolding collapsed and fell about 50 feet into the water. Four men went into the water with the scaffolding. One man who was fastened to the scaffolding with a safety harness, apparently was trapped under water. The rescuers were unable to reach him in time. He died at the scene. He is identified as 44-year-old Alan Stockton of Panama City Beach. Two others were rescued and taken to a local hospital for treatment. The fourth man managed to survive the fall uninjured. Another worker, who jumped in to help rescue the trapped man, was injured and he too was taken to the hospital. 

Contractor electrocuted on top of light tower 
The Associated Press 7/24/2003, 2:37 p.m. ET 
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A contractor who was replacing lights on top of a 90-foot baseball stadium light tower died of electrocution, authorities determined Thursday. John H. Lill, 72, died Wednesday at the historic Point Stadium in Johnstown, said Jim Zangaglia, Cambria County chief deputy coroner. The light standard carried 4,100 volts of electricity. “I don’t know how much went through him but there’s that much juice that lights up that tower,” Zangaglia said. Lill, retired city electrician, was replacing lights in preparation for a baseball tournament at the ballpark when he stopped responding to radio contact, Johnstown Recreation Director Cliff Kitner said. Firefighters climbed the steel tower and found Lill unconscious. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later. Because Lill worked for himself, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration won’t be participating in the investigation, Zangaglia said. Information from: The Tribune-Democrat

Small Fire in Civic Center
KFYR TV 
Bismarck firefighters spent the afternoon handling a small fire..in a *big* building. There was a flareup in the Bismarck Civic Center arena just before 1:00 this afternoon. A crew was doing some welding… and sparks ignited some blankets that were covering the seats. About five rows of seats were damaged. But the battalion chief says that’s not the worst of the damage. Kurt Leben/Battalion Chief: Put out quite a bit of smoke so it also activated the sprinkler system so we’re probably going to have a little more with water and smoke damage than with actual fire damage. No one was hurt in the fire.

 

PENNDOT worker hit by vehicle 
A state Department of Transportation worker helping to resurface Banetown Road in Amwell Township was injured about 1 p.m. Monday when he was struck by a vehicle. Robert Puskas of Marianna was putting yellow tape on the road to mark the center line when he was hit by a vehicle driven by Gertrude Roupe of Washington. Puskas was admitted to Washington Hospital, where he remained Tuesday. Jeff Breen, Washington county maintenance manager forPENNDOT, said the crew had just finished paving that portion of the road. He said it was a signed construction area with warning signs. State police said Roupe will be cited for failure to drive at a safe speed. Breen said that Puskas is the first PENNDOT employee to be hit by a vehicle in a Washington County construction area in several years. 

Wall falls on construction worker
By: Greg Pallone, News 14 Carolina 
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — One worker was seriously injured Tuesday when a wall that was under construction at a Huntersville shopping center fell on him. It happened at the Rosedale Shopping center off of Gilead Road. A two-story office building was under construction, and the worker was helping stand a stud wall — a wall that has no sheetrock or plywood — on the second floor. Officials estimated the wall weighs about 400 pounds and is 30 feet long and 10 feet high. Officials said the workers did not have enough people to put it up. Officials said they were not sure as to the extent of the injuries. The wall came crashing down, and all but one worker were able to get out of the way. The wall fell on top of the 160-pound worker. Firefighters said once they arrived on the scene, other workers had pulled him out from under the wall. Paramedics said he was suffering from back and neck injuries and was in an extreme amount of pain. “When we got here, the fellow workers had already removed him from the debris and he was just lying on the floor,” Huntersville Volunteer Fire Chief Larry Irvin said. Officials said they were not sure as to the extent of the injuries. The worker was transported to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment.

Trench-digging yields gusher on Willamette campus
TARA MCLAIN Statesman Journal July 23, 2003
Marigolds at Willamette University got more than a sprinkle Tuesday when a facilities worker hit a city water main while digging a trench. A geyser of muddy water erupted from a 6-inch pipe running under the lawns between Waller Hall and State Street, just south of the state Capitol. The hourlong gusher caused no damage, although two nearby university buildings lost water service for a short time. Tom Neal, Willamette’s facilities director, said the work crew knew the location of the pipe but thought it was buried deeper. The crew was digging shallow trenches for an irrigation system near the Star Trees with a trencher machine. The trencher’s rotating blades clipped off an old, capped connection that was closer to the surface than the rest of the pipe, which was not damaged, said Bud Armstrong, a maintenance foreman with the city’s Public Works Department. Armstrong estimated that the pipe was installed between 1910 and 1920. The city had recently surveyed the area for other construction work nearby and had marked where the pipe was, Armstrong said. “It’s one of those where they knew it was here, but they were hoping it wasn’t that shallow,” he said. Although there was no estimate of the water loss, it was nothing compared with the 2 million gallons that spewed from a broken 24-inch main downtown in late May. That break caused thousands of dollars in damage to vehicles and businesses near Liberty and Ferry streets SE. Tara McLain can be reached at (503) 399-6705. 

Three injured in scaffolding accident 
Lance Martin Herald Staff Writer 
HENRICO — Three construction workers were hospitalized Monday morning when scaffolding they were working on tilted over, the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office said. A construction worker at the scene off River Road in the Whippoorwill Hills subdivision said the workers, including the job foreman, fell between 15 to 20 feet while working on a house. The worker for Howerton Construction of Gasburg, Va., offered no other details. Deputy Fontay Macon said a construction worker told him around 9:15 a.m., four men were on the scaffold when it tilted, causing three men to plunge to the ground. Injured were Frankie Howerton, Frank Edmonds and Brandon Jones. No ages or addresses were available. Macon said one worker sustained a back injury, one hurt his foot and the other sustained a wrist injury. Macon said it was not clear who sustained which injury. Two of the workers were transported to Community Memorial Health Center in South Hill, Va., while another was taken Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids. Macon said it was not clear which man was transported to which hospital. Macon planned to turn the accident over to the detective division for further investigation. 

Five electrocuted in crane accident
From correspondents in Beijing 24jul03
FIVE workers died when they were electrocuted as the arm of their mechanical crane grazed high-tension wires in Shijiazhuang in northern China, state media reported today. The accident occurred yesterday as the workers were moving the crane across a construction site at a cement factory. Five of the workers were electrocuted and the driver was ejected from the seat of the vehicle. He was taken to hospital where he remains with serious burns. Police sources cited by Xinhua said the cause of the accident is under investigation.

 

Construction Worker Rescued From Downtown Building; Worker Suffers Strained Back
Story by WESH.com 
ORLANDO, Fla. — A construction worker was rescued from a building under construction in downtown Orlando Wednesday. It happened at the new Lynx building at 455 N. Garland Ave., WESH NewsChannel 2 reported. The worker apparently strained his back, and had to be placed in a Stokes basket and lowered to the ground, Orlando Fire Department Deputy Chief Kathy Miller said. tokes baskets have metal frames and allow patients to be moved over rugged or hazardous areas, Miller said. The worker suffered minor injuries and is expected to be OK.

 

Man injured in construction accident
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an accident at an industrial site in the Town of Rose Monday morning that injured a construction worker. The unidentified man was taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Hospital. The Wayne County Sheriff”s Department tells NEWS 10NBC the accident happened on Galen Road. The man was working underground in a junction box and was apparently testing some pipes, when according to the Wayne County Sheriff”s department an explosion of some type occurred. The Wayne County Sheriff”s Department is not releasing any more information. 

Firecrew help fall worker
Jul 22, 2003, 14:49:00
Firefighters went to the aid of an injured workman at Kidderminster’s new Weavers Wharf shopping complex. The workman, who had fallen off a ladder and had a suspected broken bone in his foot, was on scaffolding 30ft up when he was hurt yesterday afternoon. Sub officer Mick Rowlands of Kidderminster fire station said a turntable ladder from Worcester was sent for, and the workman was lowered to the ground on a stretcher before being taken to hospital. Mr Rowlands said: “He was a young, fit man and was not in any distress.” 

Labourer killed, another injured in wall collapse
Aida Ahmad
PENANG, Mon. A labourer was crushed to death and another seriously injured when part of a wall collapsed on them while they were doing renovation works at a pre-war shophouse in Lebuh King today. Tan Ka Khoon, 39, of Kampung Melayu in Air Itam, was killed on the spot after being buried under the rubble. His co-worker, Tan Chun Hua, 24, was warded at the Penang Hospital. Twenty firemen rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 11.40am. They recovered Tan’s body 20 minutes later. The department’s superintendent, Nazri Zakaria, said the collapse might have been caused by renovation works carried out by the two. “The piling on the foundation apparently caused a vibration, resulting in the collapse of the wall.” A worker at the nearby Poe Choo Seah Association, who only wanted to be known as Choong, said he made an emergency call to 999 at 10.45am “but no one answered”. “It was frustrating because after that, I called the Civil Defence Department and still no one answered the call. It was only 10 minutes later that I finally got through to 991.” The association’s caretaker, Khoo Kay Hin, 86, said he heard a loud noise at 10.30am upon returning from breakfast. “There were debris and dust … I could not see what was happening.” Padang Kota State Assemblyman Teng Chang Yeow, who was at the scene, said the Penang Island Municipal Council building inspector should have ensured that renovations were done according to procedures. Council president Mahadi Mohd Ibrahim, who was also present, said he had instructed his officers to investigate whether approval was given for the renovation works. 

I-85 In Durham County Reopens After Construction Accident
DURHAM, N.C. — Traffic is flowing again on Interstate 85 through Durham County. Both lanes of I-85 South near Roxboro Road were shut down Monday afternoon when a piece of construction equipment fell over into the road. Crews had to bring in a crane to lift it out of the way. The interstate opened again around 5 p.m.

One woman killed after massive crane crushes pickup in St. John’s
Canadian Press Monday, July 21, 2003
ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. (CP) – One woman was killed Monday when a 170-tonne crane truck lost control and crushed a pickup in downtown St. John’s. The crane truck had exited a major highway onto New Gower Street when it veered off the road, collided with a utility pole and and struck the pickup. Police did not release the name of the woman killed. “The woman was . . . trapped inside,” said Staff Sgt. June Layden of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. “The regional fire department is arranging for extraction of the body.” The mobile crane also hit two parked cars, but there were no other injuries. The accident also temporarily knocked out power to much of the downtown.

 

Worker dies after Santee Cooper trench collapse
(Georgetown-AP) July 18, 2003 – A man who had been on a construction job for two weeks was killed when dirt collapsed on him while he was digging a trench at Santee Cooper’s Winyah Generating Station. Georgetown County Coroner Kenny Johnson said 30-year-old Scott May was suffocated Wednesday. He had been working with North Charleston-based Landmark Construction after being laid off from Georgetown Steel on June 29th. The crew was building a foundation for a structure at the power plant on US Highway 17. May became the fifth person killed in a construction accident since December in Horry and Georgetown counties and the second person working construction to die this week. 

Worker pinned by machine, dies
By Pamela Perez, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Friday, July 18, 2003
BOCA RATON — Investigators are probing the death of a construction worker who was crushed by a lift machine Monday in a work-related accident. Firefighters found 49-year-old Aldo Lopez about 1 p.m. pinned to the ceiling of a parking garage by a platform lift machine at 101 Renaissance Centre, according to police. Emergency workers struggled for several hours to free Lopez’s body. Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are investigating how Lopez became trapped by the Genie Z-30/20 platform lift he had been operating. Lopez, an assistant superintendent, worked for two years as a labor foreman and carpenter for local Mummaw & Associates Inc., which is building the structure for Penn-Florida Companies and PBM Development. The work-related death is the first major accident on a Mummaw & Associates construction site, the firm said. OSHA inspectors found no violations of federal safety standards during two surprise inspections at the site this year. Being pinned by a machine, electrocuted, struck, and falling are the four most frequent causes for construction fatalities, OSHA area Director Louis R. Santiago said. Mummaw & Associates obtained visas and airfare for Lopez’s two adult children to fly from Argentina and join their mother for a funeral. 

Shock sends worker to hospital
By Doug Murphy Staff Writer
A workman was shocked and slightly injured while wiring lights at Desert Vista High School around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. Fred Van Aller was working with fluorescent light wiring in the physical education building when he was shocked and fell off a ladder, according to co-worker Dwight Price. Both work for KSK Electric, based in Tempe. Van Aller received a burn to his hand and was shaken up in the fall, “but he’s talking and breathing and everything,” Price said. Phoenix paramedics transported Van Aller to Chandler Regional Hospital for treatment. 

Man killed in scaffold tumble, ag worker injured in city fall 
By Herald-Tribune staff
An elderly painter was killed in a worksite accident Thursday in Wabasca. Mounties said the 70-year-old-man died after falling more than 4.5 metres from a scaffolding he was using while painting the interior of Wabasca’s new swimming pool. Foul play is not suspected, and police have turned the investigation over to Alberta Occupational Health and Safety. Wabasca is about 120 kilometres northeast of Slave Lake. Occupational Health and Safety is also investigating an incident that occurred at Agricore United’s fertilizer storage and blending facility in Grande Prairie. A employee of Spray-Air Technologies, a company contracted to do some routine maintenance, fell off a fertilizer deck onto cement six to 7.5 metres (20 to 25 feet) below. The man was transported to University Hospital in Edmonton, said Linda Park, spokeswoman with Occupational Health and Safety. Agricore United general manager of operations TJ Hinton said they’ll be working with the company and occupational health and safety on the investigation. 

Mechanic crushed to death at Ocean Breeze work site; Gruesome accident kills 47-year old in side yard of private home 
Sunday, July 20, 2003 By MICHAEL SCHOLL STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE 
A 47-year-old mechanic was killed in Ocean Breeze yesterday when he was crushed by a front-end loader. The gruesome construction accident happened around 1:15 p.m. in the side yard of a private home at 720 Liberty Ave. John Willis, of Staten Island, was repairing the loader when its shovel, which had been in the up position, suddenly shifted downward, according to Detective Brian Sessa, a police spokesman. The downward motion pinned Willis underneath one of the mechanical arms that connect the shovel to the loader’s frame. He was squeezed between the arm and the frame and ultimately crushed. Willis was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m. in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, Sessa said. He was a mechanic employed by the Midland Beach branch of The Tool Depot, a firm that rents and sells tools and construction equipment. He had been sent to the site to repair a rented loader that workers were using to clear the home’s yard. Neighbors who came to aid Willis said it looked as if he got caught in the loader’s machinery while working on the vehicle. One neighbor, Manuel Perez, said the yard workers reacted in horror as they saw Willis being crushed. “I heard somebody screaming,” said Perez, who was at a friend’s house across the street from the accident scene when he heard the workers wail for help. The yard workers joined Perez and a few more neighbors in a bid to free Willis from the machine. Three or four men who were working on a house under construction on nearby Buel Avenue also joined the rescue attempt. But the work was difficult. “We were struggling to get leverage,” said Perez, who said it took about five or 10 minutes to free Willis. By the time he was pried from the machine, Willis was critically injured. Perez said he showed no sign of a pulse. “He was non-responsive,” Perez said. Willis was loaded into an Emergency Medical Service ambulance that arrived at the scene in response to a 911 call. He was rushed to the hospital emergency room a few blocks away, but his injuries were too severe to be overcome. Detectives from the 122nd Precinct examined the accident scene yesterday and began an investigation into the incident. No charges had been filed against anyone as of last night. Calls placed to The Tool Depot’s Midland Beach, Port Richmond and New Brighton offices were not answered. The owner of the home at 720 Liberty Ave. could not be reached for comment.

 

Worker Dies In Elevator Shaft; Fell to death at Stony Brook school
By Samuel Bruchey and Chao Xiong STAFF WRITERS July 17, 2003
An Oakdale man working inside a junior high school in Stony Brook died yesterday after falling down a two-story elevator shaft, Suffolk police said. Andrew Amarando, 32, and at least one co-worker were installing telephone cables inside the Robert C. Murphy Junior High School at 351 Oxhead Rd., Homicide Det. Sgt. Vincent Posillico said. At about 9 a.m., Amarando stepped through a press board covering in the attic of the two-story building and fell down the shaft, Posillico said. “It really wasn’t designed to hold much [weight],” he said. Amarando became wedged between the elevator car and the wall of the shaft, Posillico said. The elevator car had to be dismantled before Amarando’s body could be removed. It took police and Setauket firefighters four hours to extricate his body and remove it from the shaft, Posillico said. It was unclear exactly when he died. But “nobody heard him calling out from the shaft,” a police source said. Amarando was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the Suffolk County medical examiner’s office in Hauppauge for an autopsy. Amarando’s relatives declined to comment. His employer, Cable Reddy of Selden, did not return calls for comment. Posillico said it was Amarando’s third day working at the school. There were no children in the building at the time of the accident, Three Village District Superintendent John Sonedecker said. Other contracted workers and school maintenance staff were present in the two-story red-brick building when the accident occurred, he said, adding that a custodian reported the incident. 

Flagger crushed by dump truck – Investigators puzzling together how man died
2003-07-17 by Catherine Hawley Journal Reporter
BELLEVUE — A 56-year-old construction flagger was killed Wednesday when he apparently was crushed by a dump truck on Northeast 162nd Avenue. No one witnessed the accident, and investigators spent much of the rest of the day trying to figure out exactly what happened. Larry McMurchy of Seattle was pronounced dead at the scene. He was discovered under the 90,000-pound truck about 7:40 a.m. after another worker saw his flagger’s sign lying in the road but did not see him, said Marcia Harnden, Bellevue police spokeswoman. “The driver didn’t know anything happened” until a co-worker called to him to stop, Harnden said. Bellevue Fire Department crews extricated McMurchy, but he could not be revived. He was declared dead just after 8 a.m. Parts of 162nd Avenue and Northeast 26th Street in the residential area near Interlake High School were closed for five hours so that officials from local and state agencies could investigate the accident. McMurchy was part of a six-member crew from Emerald Construction of Seattle replacing a water line for a city utilities project. Just before the accident, the dump truck emptied a load of gravel, Harnden said. It was then backing south on 162nd when a worker noticed the flagger missing. The dump truck driver was a 39-year-old man from Eatonville, Harnden said. A chaplain from Eastside Fire and Rescue was called to the scene to speak with McMurchy’s co-workers. Efforts to reach Emerald Construction officials for comment were unsuccessful. The accident was the second in six weeks on the Eastside in which a dump truck crushed a flagger. On May 30, a truck backed over county roads worker Tonya Riexinger, 40, on Southeast Middle Fork Road near Snoqualmie. The state Department of Labor and Industries investigation into that incident won’t be complete for another month or two, said spokeswoman Elaine Fischer. Officials will compare the two accidents, she said, though it’s too early to speculate in either case why the worker could not get out of the truck’s way. “Flagger safety is a huge concern,” Fischer said. An autopsy by King County Medical Examiners may help explain what happened. Also investigating were Bellevue police and Washington State Patrol, which oversees commercial-vehicle accidents. Wednesday morning, investigators took measurements and photographs. They used a rolling board to slide beneath the truck and inspect the undercarriage. The truck’s warning signal could be heard when it was backed up a few feet. While they worked, a little farther down 162nd Avenue a long-handled stop sign, the kind flaggers use to direct traffic, rested upside down against a telephone pole. 

UPDATE Hurt carpenter receives $2.4M
By Michael Zeigler Staff Writer 
July 17, 2003) — A Greece construction worker has accepted a $2.45 million settlement for serious injuries he suffered while helping build a prison in Seneca County. James M. Weiser, 41, settled on Tuesday with an insurance company indemnifying New York state after one day of testimony in a trial in the state Court of Claims in Syracuse. The trial was being held to determine how much Weiser was entitled to in damages. Judge Nicholas V. Midey Jr. had previously ruled that the state was responsible for Weiser’s injuries because of the failure of state-required safety devices. Weiser, a carpenter, received a broken right hip and a back injury when he was pinned between a concrete wall and a metal panel used to form the wall at Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus on June 25, 1999. The $180 million maximum-security prison opened the next year. Weiser was standing on top of the wall, secured with a safety harness and lanyard, as he directed the removal of the panel by an excavator. But the adjacent panel, to which his lanyard was attached, also was pulled loose, causing him to fall into the gap between the panel and the wall. The panel swung back and pinned him between the wall and the panel, crushing his hip. Weiser can no longer work as a carpenter, which had paid him up to $70,000 a year, said his lawyer, Joe Moran of the Rochester law firm of Moran & Kufta. Nearly half of the settlement – $1.2 million – will reimburse Weiser for lost wages and benefits over his lifetime, Moran said. An insurance company insuring the state against the claim offered $1.25 million several days before the trial began, Moran said. A settlement that nearly doubled that offer was reached after negotiations and the beginning of the trial. 

Blaze at Bayside co-op; Plumbing repair work linked to 3-alarm fire
By WARREN WOODBERRY Jr. DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 
A stubborn three-alarm fire in Bayside yesterday may have been touched off by workers using a propane torch to do plumbing repairs, a fire official said. Fire Chief Patrick McNally said the blaze started at 1:36 p.m. yesterday in the basement of 217-24 73rd Ave. in the Windsor Oaks Apartments complex. Tenants were safely evacuated. Six firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated at area hospitals. It took about 138 firefighters to bring the fire under control at 4:05 p.m. Four apartments in the two-story brick building were affected. One apartment on each floor sustained the most damage, McNally said. McNally said the fire spread from the basement, where the plumbers had been working, and then up to the second floor through the building’s wooden floorboards. Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the blaze. Celeste Dippel, 46, said firefighters allowed her to rescue her parakeet, JoJo, from her second-floor apartment after she received a phone call at work that the building was on fire. “We had our life in there,” said Dippel, who has lived in the complex for 15 years and has brought up her daughter, Julia, 9, there. Dippel said she and tenants in her building had been without hot water for some time, and that Tuesday, contractors had been working on the building’s boiler. “They had been fixing it for the past couple of days,” said Dippel, a former co-op board member. Displaced tenants were provided shelter at area hotels through the Red Cross. Dippel said she would stay with friends. “Accidents happen. What can you do? It didn’t mean to happen,” Dippel said. Windsor Oaks Apartments, a co-op community with some rental apartments, has 900 units on 37 acres of land. 

Chesapeake Police Believe Norfolk Repairman Electrocuted to Death
Chesapeake police believe a Norfolk repairman was electrocuted to death Wednesday afternoon while repairing a retail store’s air conditioning system. Around 5:00pm, emergency personnel responded to the Ames Department Store in the 1900 block of South Military Highway after store personnel lost contact with 38-year old Eric Bean. Bean, of the 2900 block of Murry Court in Norfolk, was on the roof of the Ames store repairing the air conditioning. Rescuers found Bean’s body in the store’s duct work. While police believe Bean was electrocuted, his body was sent to the Medical Examiner’s office to determine the exact cause of death. Bean worked for Technical Services of Chesapeake.

Man Killed In Metro Construction Accident
POSTED: 11:39 a.m. CDT July 17, 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY — A 71-year-old man helping build a home was killed in a construction accident. Wayne Brown was using a front-end loader Wednesday to hoist a 1,000-pound, 16-foot piece of angle iron when the iron came loose, slid down the loader’s arms and hit him in the head, Oklahoma City fire Maj. Brian Stanaland said. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene.

Construction digging creates 2 gas leaks; Pipes shifting over time may have contributed to the accident, officials say.
By Ebony M. Moore Contributor to The Shorthorn by Kateryna Ivanova The Shorthorn staff
Two gas leaks caused fire fighters to block off a segment of Cooper Street from UTA Boulevard to Division Street Tuesday afternoon. An eight-inch gap in the major gas line that goes through the city was discovered at the corner of Cooper and Main streets, said Battalion Chief David Stapp of Arlington Fire Department. The second, smaller leak occurred at Cooper and Abram streets and was much easier to repair, he added. The Arlington Fire Department evacuated several businesses in the area, including the Diamond Shamrock gas station at Cooper and Abram streets and the Parks and Recreation Building and Bobby Davis Bail Bonds at Cooper and Main streets. Officials said the accident was caused by a road construction crew working on the street. Workers were digging at the intersection of Cooper and Main streets when they cut the line for the first time, Stapp said. When it became impossible to work at the site due to the smell, they moved a block up the street, where they dug into the pipes again, he said. Stapp said he did not know what company hired the construction workers or who made the report about the gas leaks. Road maps distributed to the workers are not always accurate and can be up to 10 years old, said Lieutenant Randy Ingram, Arlington Fire Department public information officer. Ground tends to shift over the years and pipes are slowly displaced in one direction or another, he explained. “Obviously, they don’t have X-ray vision — they have to assume that there’s nothing below them, so they just start digging,” he said. Oncor Gas Company was in charge of the repair. Workers planned to expose the gas line, fit a clamp around and tighten it to stop the leak, Ingram said. They will come back later to mend the hole in the pipe. The line runs through the major parts of the city, providing gas to a number of businesses and households, he added, which is why the company does not want to shut it down. It would also take a long time to start the system back up — and that is too much work, he said. “Oncor has no idea how long it’s going to take,” Stapp said. “We have crews who are monitoring the surrounding area for accumulation of gas using gas monitors.” Stapp said the major issue facing repair crews is heat. The firemen have to be rotated every few minutes because they are wearing full fire gear, he explained. Hot weather, however, will not affect the gas, he added. Sergeant Richard Grimmett of the Arlington Police Department said traffic is usually light for the intersections, so no major road problems are expected. “Everything is pretty well-contained right now, and the repair crew is doing their job. [Oncor] does it all the time — they’re very professional,” he said. “But if they cause a spark while they’re trying to repair it, it can be catastrophic.”