A construction worker fell 30 feet at a construction site in Research Park on Monday.
He was doing steel work on the fifth level of a building expansion at 460 S. Wakara Way. The construction site is in the northeast corner of Research Park, the area closest to the Sage Point Building 813 of the residence halls. The worker, 25, was walking across a beam when he fell, breaking both of his arms and possibly his leg, said Scott Freitag, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Fire Department. No one knows why he fell, Freitag said.
“He hadn’t gone unconscious after he fell, and was breathing,” said site supervisor Val Creamer.
Emergency crews arrived at 9 a.m. and transported him to the University Hospital in serious condition, Freitag said.
The fire department is not releasing the name of the construction worker.
The worker was wearing a harness when he fell, but it wasn’t connected to the safety line that would have caught him before he hit the ground. Harnesses almost never malfunction and disconnect from the line without the worker’s knowledge, so he must have disconnected the line himself and took his chances, Freitag said.
Larry Worrell, senior vice president for Big-D Construction, said the incident is under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Michael McFall