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Falling Rod Pierces Construction Worker At Tampa High-Rise

News Channel 8 photo by ERIC HAUSMANN

The accident happened about 7:45 a.m. at The Element, a 36-story high-rise at 808 N. Franklin St. in Tampa.

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TBO.com

Published: August 27, 2008

Updated: 08/27/2008 12:00 pm

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TAMPA - A 28-year-old construction worker is in critical condition at Tampa General Hospital after a slender metal rod fell 26 floors this morning, piercing his helmet and head, officials said.

Tampa Fire Rescue arrived about 7:45 a.m. at The Element, a 36-story high-rise at 808 N. Franklin St., to find Rafael Villasenor Cazares unconscious and barely breathing on the 10th floor.

Police provided a different spelling for the worker's name earlier today.

Cazares was listed in critical condition this afternoon, according to the hospital. Through a hospital spokeswoman, his family declined to speak to reporters.

Frank Fralick, executive vice president of Manhattan Construction Co., which is working on The Element, said the rod that struck the worker is a snap tie, used to holdforms together when pouring cement. The rod is about one-eighth inch thick and roughly 20 inches long, he said.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating.

"We would determine in general whether or not the protective equipment was adequate," said Les Grove, area director for OSHA's Tampa office. He could not discuss the incident at The Element in detail.

All workers who are in possible danger of head injury from impact, from falling or flying objects, for from electrical shock and burns must wear protective helmets that meet the specifications of the American National Standards Institute, he said.

Cazares works for a subcontractor at the site, American Pan & Engineering Co., Fralick said.

A spokeswoman at that company's headquarters, in Palmetto, Ga., declined to comment this morning.

Stephen McDonald, an operations manager at the construction site, said this is the most serious accident at The Element during this project. Crews have put in more than 700,000 hours and recorded only four on-site accidents, such as cuts and scrapes, he said. "Nothing of the magnitude of this," he said.

Grove said he was not personally aware of similar incidents of construction workers impaled through protective headgear. However, he said, there are many injuries that are not reported to OSHA.

Employers are required only to report incidents that result in fatalities or injure three or more people, Grove said.

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