Saturday, May 30, 2015

1 WORKER KILLED WHEN HE WAS PINNED BY A MAN LIFT AGAINST THE ROOF OF THE EAST BUSWAY BRIDGE OVERPASS ON KELLY AVENUE IN WILKINSBURG, PA









MAY 30, 2015

WILKINSBURG, PA

A man was killed in a construction accident in Wilkinsburg Saturday morning while making repairs to a busway overpass, EMS dispatchers said.

Sean Kelly, 38, was pinned by a Man Lift against the roof of the East Busway bridge overpass on Kelly Avenue about 8:20 a.m., near the one-way end of Kelly just off Rebecca Avenue.

Emergency crews performed CPR on Mr. Kelly, but he died at the scene, the Allegheny Medical Examiner’s office confirmed.

“At this point, we believe he was operating [the lift] and at this point it looks like it was an accident,” said Allegheny County police homicide Lt. Andrew Schurman.

Mr. Kelly was working for Gulisek Construction, Co. of Mt. Pleasant, making repairs to the East Busway bridge that crosses over Kelly Avenue in Wilkinsburg.

“We’re doing everything we can to assist in the investigation to find out how this could have happened,” said Gulisek Construction spokesman Jake Ploeger. “It’s a heartbreaking tragedy for our employees to have to go through something like this and our heart certainly goes out to the Kelly family and we hope that we can comfort the Kelly family in any way we can.”

The Port Authority has a contract with Gulisek to make repairs to 22 bridges in the system and the East Busway bridge is one of them, Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said.

“Port Authority was sad to learn of the fatal accident this morning and our thoughts are with the family of the individual involved.”

In addition to the Allegheny County police, the Port Authority safety department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration also are investigating the accident.