17.05.2023

Fatal fall from platform

A man died following a fall from a boom lift while painting a bridge over State Road 2 in Mentor, Ohio - North East of Cleveland - last Thursday.

A two man team was using a 66ft JLG 660SJ from the Sunbelt Rentals fleet and were just about finished for the night when they decided to do some minor touch up to their work, before heading home at 23:00. We understand that they had just begun their descent when one of them somehow fell out of the platform gate, dropping around six metres to the ground.
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The man Raul Perez, 53, of Beaver Excavating struck his head in the fall and was in cardiac arrest when the emergency services arrived. The paramedics managed to stabilise him, but he was declared dead at the hospital. It is thought that when the two decided to go back up at the last minute Perez failed to re-attach his lanyard. His co-worker was not involved in the fall.

An OSHA investigation has been launched and is ongoing.