As a construction worker in Florida, you take your safety very seriously. You work with heavy equipment in the heat and humidity, and you’re constantly exposed to risks. It’s possible to be badly hurt or killed if you or someone else makes a mistake while using your machinery. There are always safety protocols in place, and most of the time, everything goes right.
Sometimes, though, something does go wrong, and that can cause an emergency that leads in a person suffering ongoing pain or disabilities or a family dealing with the death of a person they loved. This case is one that involves such a tragedy, and while an investigation is ongoing, there is no resolution at this point.
If you’ve been following the news in Florida recently, you’ve probably heard about the repairs being done on the Sarasota Square Mall. Construction teams were in to work on the building when an accident happened and resulted in the death of a 24-year-old man who was working. The article claims he was on a scissor lift at the time of the accident.
What happened? Deputies and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are still investigating, but it’s believed that the man was crushed in the scissor lift when it was in use. It’s not clear if there was a malfunction with the machinery or if it was user error of the man or someone else running the machine. The young man did initially survive in the incident, with those on the scene performing CPR; however, he did not survive long enough to make it to the hospital.
Source: My Sun Coast, “OSHA now investigating a deadly accident at Sarasota Square Mall” Amber Erickson, Feb. 27, 2015
