A Florida worker was fatally blasted out of a storm drain. What it could cost the firm
An OSHA investigation into a 24-year-old worker blown out of a storm drain to his death in a Port St. Lucie street uncovered one workplace safety violation.
The July violation that investigators say cost Austin Falcon Rodriguez his life could cost Southeast Services of the Treasure Coast $16,131.
The Vero Beach company run by president Robert Foress and secretary Angelique Foress hasn’t returned a Miami Herald message on whether they’ll contest the citation or request an informal conference with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The company could also just pay the citation, an option least chosen by businesses.
As for what happened around 11 a.m. July 8 on Southwest Becker Road near the Southwest Village Parkway intersection, Port St. Lucie police said Falcon was doing maintenance on an underground drainage pipe.
OSHA says Falcon was “climbing down a ladder into a street storm drain when an air bag/plug inside the drainpipe exploded. The explosion propelled (Falcon) out of the storm drain and onto the street.”
Falcon didn’t survive a lacerated liver and skull fractures among other injuries. He died on Southwest Becker Road.
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The sole violation, classified as Serious on OSHA’s Citation and Notification of Penalty, says Southeast Services’ workplace wasn’t “free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm including injuries from struck-by hazards.”
Preventive measures listed by OSHA included making sure:
▪ Workers go over the pneumatic plug safety and instruction manual before using the plugs
▪ Employees are properly trained to see hazards of placing plugs and being near them after they’ve been inflated.
▪ The plug is placed in the pipe according to direction with a bracing device to keep it from moving.
▪ The air pressure is properly calibrated.
▪ “Employees do not enter the danger zone in front of the storm drain opening while the plug is inflated.”
“Pressurized equipment poses significant danger, and employers must put safeguards in place and take all necessary precautions to protect workers from these hazards,” OSHA Area Director Condell Eastmond said. “If employers ignore critical safety measures, the consequences can be devastating, leaving an unfillable void in the lives of the families impacted by such tragedies.”
Employers wanting to make sure they’re in workplace safety compliance can reach out to Compliance Assistance Specialists. Employees wanting to file an OSHA complaint can go online, call 800-321-6742 or call or visit the local OSHA office.
