Construction worker falls to death

Industry > Construction Accident

May 18, 2007

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Los Angeles, CA - According to authorities, a 19-year-old day laborer fell when a beam on which he was standing broke on an east Gilroy construction site on Monday morning, April 30.

Sheriff's Lieutenant Dale Unger said that Levy Manuel Rojas-Calderon was framing a roof on an aging home on the former Furtado Dairy property Monday morning, April 30, when a supporting beam gave way under his feet.

Rojas-Calderon, the teen, fell 10 feet onto the concrete foundation and died at 7:54 a.m. of severe head injury. Kendra Fortino, who recently took over the Ferguson Road dairy, called 911.

The death is being investigated by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which monitors job-related injuries and deaths. Spokesman Dean Fryer said falling deaths remain "a serious hazard" in the construction industry.

Rojas-Calderon, a day laborer, was hired directly by the dairy owners to remodel an aged 1,000-square-foot home on the property.

Dean Fryer said that it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the worksite is safe.

Thus far, it is unclear whether the former dairy violated OSHA regulations. Employers are required to provide fall protection, usually in the form of a harness, to employees working more than 15 feet above the ground if they are standing on trusses.

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