The News You Need for Aug. 17

Workplace safety issues around the country remind us of the need for precautionary steps.

Boston, MA (WorkerCompensation.com ) – One employee died in a fall and another died in an explosion, as workers suffered various injuries in the news this past week.

In Boston, Mass., a construction worker died after falling off of a building on the Emerson College campus.

Officials said Barry P. Medeiros, 43, of Tauton, Mass., died Friday when he fell from the scaffolding on the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater. Emergency workers said they found Medeiros in the alley near the building on Emerson College’s campus.

Pictures of the alley from earlier in the week showed workers restoring the alley wall of the theater building. Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt said the college was working with investigators into the cause of Medeiros’ death.

"Emerson College extends our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of this person and our heartfelt support to anyone who may have witnessed this tragedy," Bernhardt wrote. "We are still learning more about what occurred and are in open, ongoing contact with city authorities."

Officials said local law enforcement and OSHA are investigating the incident.

"Every construction worker deserves to go home to their family, and my thoughts are with their loved ones after this devastating incident," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said. "The city will continue to work with OSHA and all investigators to determine the cause and how to prevent tragedies like this from occurring again."

In Bel Air, Md., a 35-year-old utility worker is dead after an explosion rocked a house that was getting ready to go up for sale.

Officials said Rodriguez-Alvarado, 35, a utility contractor, was at the house to investigate a report of a gas leak. Seventy-three year old Ray Corkran, Jr. was in the house at the time, preparing to meet a real estate agent in anticipation of putting the house up for sale, Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said.

According to officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, electricity issues were reported in the area on Saturday night, and BGE had planned to send a crew to the address on Sunday. Joe Cluster, Hartford County’s chief of executive staff, said Hartford County Public Works employees were in the area on Sunday morning to mark the ground about water and sewer lines to alert anyone working in the area to avoid digging there. While working there, the public works employees said they smelled gas and reported the issue to BGE.

Once the public works employees were gone, BGE workers arrived, and the explosion happened. Officials said both Rodriguez-Alvarado and Corkran were killed in the blast. Corkran’s body was found in the post-explosion rubble, still in his wheelchair.

A neighbor who lived nearby was injured, officials said. The neighbor declined treatment.

Video of the blast showed a debris field surrounding what was left of the house and into the nearby area.

“I’ve been on the job for nearly 18 years; this is one of the largest explosions I’ve seen,” Alkire said.

Officials have asked the public to stay away from the area because of the amount of debris, and to not fly any personal drones in the explosion’s airspace.

"Deputy State Fire Marshals and ATF agents have concluded their on-scene investigation and turned the scene over to the insurance representatives," the Maryland State Fire Marshal's office said in an update on Facebook Monday. "Crews have already begun cleaning up the copious debris strewn throughout the neighborhood, and restoration companies are beginning to make repairs to nearby homes."

In Cleveland, an employee who could have died somehow managed to survive an accident when a roof landed on top of him.

Officials in Cleveland said an employee inside of McMahan’s Auto Sales was standing at his toolbox when storms ripped through the area on August 6. Allen Covington was talking on the phone with his son’s mother when the roof flew into the air, he said.

“I looked out the door. A wave came in, of the wind. It kind of looked like an explosion wave, a bomb,” he told Cleveland19. With debris flying around his work area, he dove for cover, he said.

“Tried to get under my toolbox. That’s when the wall landed on my leg. The cell phone disconnected. I watched the roof spin around and land on me,” he said. “Landed on my hip, all the way to my ankle and pinned me under it.”

Covington said the only thing he was thinking about was making it out alive to see his 12-year-old son get married. He was taken to Metro Health with bruising and scarring on his leg. However, he said, it could have been worse.

“I got lucky, I got real lucky considering what we saw afterwards. I came back the next day and I looked in front of my toolbox, a bunch of bricks, hammers and nails. It could have been a lot worse,” he said. “I’ve been in four car accidents before, it wasn’t anything like this where I really thought I wasn’t coming out of it.”

McMahan’s owner told the news station that he would be building a new garage for his employees.

And in Penn Township, Pa., a garbage truck worker was injured Friday in a crash.

Officials said the garbage truck worker was working on the right side of the truck when the truck clipped a tree and he was thrown from the vehicle. The worker suffered a leg injury and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.