MEC&F Expert Engineers : A 44-year-old construction worker may have unhooked his harness before he fell 30 feet to his death

Sunday, August 2, 2015

A 44-year-old construction worker may have unhooked his harness before he fell 30 feet to his death

Detached harness may be to blame for construction worker's death

UPDATED 5:34 PM EDT Jul 31, 2015

GREENVILLE, S.C. —A 44-year-old construction worker may have unhooked his harness before he died Thursday, according to the chief deputy coroner.
Chief Deputy Coroner Mike Ellis said Ascension Molina Medina, of Greenville, fell from the fourth floor of the construction site at 699 N. Main St.  Evans said Medina lost his footing and fell about 30 feet.

"It's our understanding that a safety harness -- he had unhooked himself -- and was moving locations," said Ellis.

Medina was taken to the Greenville Memorial Hospital Trauma Center at about 11 a.m.  He died several hours later, Ellis said.

Ellis said Medina died of blunt force trauma to his chest.

The death is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Greenville police and the coroner’s office.

Osha sent News 4 this statement: 

"SC OSHA is investigating. Investigations generally take about 8 weeks to complete. SC OSHA looks for any OSHA violations that may have contributed in any way to the incident."

"At this time, the investigation is continuing, so we cannot speculate as to what happened. The purpose of the investigation is to look at all aspects of the worksite. For example, we will look at what equipment was being used, what safety procedures were in place, what types of training had been provided to employees, etc."