A worker was killed Monday morning at the Levi's Stadium site in Santa Clara, Calif., the second death in four months at the $1.3-billion project. A 61-year-old driver for Tampa-based steel subcontractor Gerdau Ameristeel was unloading a bundle of rebar at the new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers when the bundle fell and crushed him, says Cal-OSHA spokesperson Kathleen Hennessy. The worker from nearby Vacaville, Calif., whose name has not been released, was transported to the hospital and later died from his injuries.
The job site was closed down for the day, according to a statement released by Johnathan Harvey, project co-director for general contractor Turner-Devcon. The statement adds "our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time."
Representatives for Cal-OSHA are on site gathering information for the ongoing investigation of the death. Hennessy says there are no previous citations for Gerdau Ameristeel in California.
In June, another construction worker, Donald White, 63, was killed, resulting in a multi-day work stoppage at the $1.3-billion stadium site. He was working from a ladder at the bottom of an elevator shaft when an elevator counterweight struck and killed him.
White was employed as an elevator mechanic by Schindler Elevator Corp. of Morristown, N.J. No citations were issued as a result of the accident. "[White] was an experienced worker who was aware that the elevator was in motion, but he remained in the elevator pit – he didn’t move," Hennessy says. "Nobody really knows why and there were no witnesses at the time of the accident, so it’s still a bit of a mystery."
