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By JIM DANKO
Two men working in a 40-foot high bucket died on Dec. 1 in Atlanta after the lift they were using fell over, according to news reports.
The victims of the construction accident were identified as Rigoberto Lopez, 29, of Marietta, and Karlos Turner, 42, of Dallas, who were working on Dallas Street when the piece of heavy machinery fell over around 1 p.m. The men were not crushed from the machine, but died from the fall, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which quoted the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office. The lift was extended to a height of 40 feet, according to the news report.
The newspaper reported that the men were performing maintenance on the exterior of the Amli Old 4th Ward Apartment Homes when the lift got stuck. When workers tried to move the lift, the machine fell onto a concrete walkway across the street.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation by the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
“Construction work involving heavy machinery can be dangerous and deadly, as this case shows,” said Atlanta personal injury lawyer Gary Martin Hays, of the Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C. “While the cause of this accident is not yet determined, some workplace accidents may involve third-party liability, or someone other than the employer being negligent for creating a hazard. It’s important that a thorough investigation is completed. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the men who lost their lives in this accident.”
