When working a job, the days pass one by one. Maybe some days might seem long, but ultimately, time flies, and someone can say that they’ve been working for a company for an entire decade.
One such person, who had dedicated so many of his days to a roofing company, died in a workplace accident in Colorado this week. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the seasoned roofing worker fell to his death on Wednesday in Colorado Springs.
A worker for his company since 2001, the accident victim was on-the-job when his supervisor instructed him and other workers to try to get to the roof of a building using the fire escape. Unfortunately, that fire escape wasn’t structurally sound. A cable broke and resulted in the worker’s fall and fatal injuries.
This sort of deadly work incident poses various questions. Is someone or are various parties liable for the worker’s accident? OSHA officials are investigating the fatal work fall. They are most likely determining whether the proper safety gear was used at the time of the accident. Was it a safe call for the workers to be directed to use the fire escape?
The condition of the fire escape is of no control of the accident victim’s employer. Authorities could, however, go after the building owners for failing to have a reliable fire escape. Those are important to the safety of all citizens, including building tenants, the fire department and police. In this case, the fire escape’s condition was important to the safety of the killed Colorado worker.
Source: The Colorado Springs Gazette, “Worker killed in fall from Colorado Springs fire escape was father of five; funeral Tuesday,” Lisa Walton, Jan. 28