Three Employees Die in Separate Falls

Fairfield, CT (WorkersCompensation.com) – Three employees have died in separate accidents across the country this week.  

In Fairfield, Connecticut, a worker died Tuesday after he fell through a skylight at a local university.  

Fairfield Police reported that it received several 911 calls around 7:15 a.m. that a worker had fallen through a skylight at the Central Utilities Facility building on the grounds of Fairfield University. Upon arrival, they found a semi-responsive 57-year-old man on lying on the concrete.  

The worker was taken to Saint Vincent’s Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.  

Initial investigations found that the man was a contractor working on the rooftop of the building when he apparently lost his footing and fell backwards through the skylight. Police said the man fell approximately 40 feet onto the concrete floor.  

Fairfield University said it was working with authorities.   

“Fairfield University offers our prayers and deepest condolences to family and friends of the individual involved in the accident that occurred on campus earlier this morning, Jennifer Anderson, Fairfield University’s Vice President of marketing and Communications. “Fairfield University prioritizes the safety and well-being of our employees and contractors. The University is working collaboratively with all local and state organizations involved with this investigation.”  

OSHA officials confirmed they are investigating the incident.   

On Saturday, officials in West Palm Beach announced a worker had died in a fall from a construction site.   

West Palm Beach Police Department said 23-year-old Dolores Yamileth Matinez Ponce, of Allapattah, fell from the 13h floor of building that was under construction, landing on the second floor. Ponce was pronounced dead at the scene by West Palm Beach Fire rescue.   

Officials said no one witnessed the fall, but investigators believe Ponce was installing flooring in the unit before she fell from the 12th-story balcony. Ponce was working for Jovavesa Corp. in Miami, one of the site’s subcontractors.   

The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner will determine Ponce’s cause and manner of death, but officials said West Palm Beach Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating the fall, alongside OSHA.   

And on Wednesday, a construction worker in Lebanon died when he fell on a worksite during a storm in Lebanon, Indiana. 

According to the Lebanon Fire Department, fire and rescue personnel were called to a worksite on Edwards Drive around 6:15 p.m.   

While fire and rescue personnel tried to save the man’s life, officials with the Boone County Coroner’s Office said he died at the scene.   

Preliminary investigations found that the man was on an elevated platform while working on an industrial warehouse. Officials said he and others were in the process of stopping due to oncoming storms. However, strong winds hit the platform the man was on as it was being lowered, knocking it over, sending the man to his death.   

The worker was identified by the coroner’s office as 29-year-old Sebastian Bartolome-Gaspar, a resident of Guatemala. His death was ruled an accident and the result of blunt force trauma to his body.   

According to Captain Matt Young of the Lebanon Fire Department, it was a standard construction lift, and the man was following safety protocols.    

“The subject was harnessed with fall protection onto the lift and when the lift fell, he fell along with it,” Young told the FOX59 News.   

Young said the storm played a part in the accident, with winds topping 50 miles an hour.  

“It was very stormy, high winds, heavy rain at the time,” said Young. “Upon our unit’s arrival, he was not trapped. Construction workers had actually moved the subject indoors out of the weather to provide aid.”  

Lebanon Fire Chief Chuck Batts said Bartolome-Gaspar was “traumatically injured on impact.” Officials at the Indianapolis Automated Cold Store building said supervisors were aware of the impending inclement weather and were in the process of moving employees from the building to safety.   

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the accident, which will take between two and six months.