Construction Workers Killed in Separate Accidents from Florida to Arkansas

Miami, FL (WorkersComepensation.com) – A construction worker is dead and several others are injured following a number of workplace accidents as we entered into the new year.

In Miami, a construction worker is dead after he was hit by another car in a chain reaction vehicle pile-up, officials said. The 28-year-old Florida Department of Transportation worker Jose Parra was working as a Road Ranger along I-95 on New Year’s Day. Road Rangers provide traffic incident services and limited no-cost highway assistance, officials said. According to reports, he and two Florida Highway Patrol troopers in their cruisers were on the side of the road with their hazard lights on when they were struck by a BMW SUV.

The FHP said the 45-year-old driver of the BMW was behind a Honda Accord sedan as they approached the FDOT and FHP cars. When the driver of the Honda slowed down, the BMW driver failed to take evasive action and crashed into the Honda. From there the BMW crashed into a concrete wall and then into the back of the Road Ranger’s truck, which hit the trooper’s car, which then hit the FDOT employee and another trooper’s car, officials said. Both of the troopers suffered minor injuries, as did the driver of the Honda, FHP spokeswoman Lt. Indiana Miranda said.

The crash remains under investigation.

In Arkansas, a Department of Transportation worker was also hit and killed in a vehicle crash.

According to the Arkansas Department of Transportation, 39-year-old Charles “Tony” Clover was working as part of the Lonoke County maintenance crew patching potholes when he was struck by a car around 10 a.m. Jan. 2.

Officials said Glover was in a work zone south of Humnoke on Highway 13 when a driver in a 2025 Toyota Sequoia hit the ARDOT work truck and Glover.

“We are devastated to share that we lost a member of the ARDOT family this morning,” ARDOT Director Lorie Tudor said in a social media post. “Our deepest condolences are with the family and loved ones of Mr. Glover.”

ARDOT said the incident is under investigation.

In New York City, a construction worker is dead after falling from a scaffolding at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Police said the 45-year-old construction worker was assisting with the renovation to the famed hotel on Jan. 2 when he apparently fell from the third floor.

Building inspectors believe the worker was on a catwalk about a third floor ballroom helping a master electrician install a metal framing system when he stepped onto a drywall ceiling and fell 40 feet to the floor below.

Officials with the NYC Department of Buildings have issued a stop-work order on the renovation as the cause of the accident is determined. Officials said there are “extensive safeguards” in place that are mandated by the department that should have prevented such a fall.

The hotel has been shuttered since 2017 as it undergoes an extensive renovation that would cut the number of rooms in the hotel to 375 from its original 1,400. The renovation aims to give the hotel the largest hotel rooms in the city, as well as accommodate full-time residents.

And in Millcreek Township, Pa., a worker is dead after the arms of a skid loader fell on him.

Officials with Lebanon County Police said Clinton Devon Martin, of Robesonia, was killed while he was working for TLS Equipment LLC. In Newmanstown. Martin was declared dead at the scene. Workers at the company had called 911 when they found Martin pinned under the skid loader. Officials said the arms of the skid loader had fallen on top of him.

Other TLS Equipment employees were able to use equipment to lift the skid loader off of Martin, police said, but when he was evaluated by Newmanstown Ambulance personnel, there were no signs of life.

Officials believe Martin had been standing under the raised arms of the skid load when the hydraulic line burst causing the arms to drop on top of him and pin him. The Lebanon County Coroner’s Office was called to the scene, along with a compliance officer with the Pa. OSHA office. The incident remains under investigation.

Share This Article: