The fatal workplace accident at the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project in Cincinnati involved a manlift, the Ohio Department of Transportation confirmed in an update reported Monday, October 26, and the death remains under investigation by federal workplace safety regulators. The worker, a member of a Walsh-Kokosing crew, died October 17 at the massive bridge and highway reconstruction project and has not been publicly identified.
Cincinnati police said officers were called about 10:30 a.m. on October 17 to the area of West Third Street and Pete Rose Way for a workplace accident. Police said the worker had been operating a boom lift, equipment designed to lift people and tools to elevated work areas, when the equipment shifted and fell. He suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he died several hours later.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, is leading the investigation, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. Cincinnati police, including the department’s Criminal Investigation Section, have also investigated the incident. Authorities have not announced what caused the equipment to shift, and no official investigative findings had been released in the reports available this week.
Walsh-Kokosing is the design-build team responsible for the project, a joint venture of Walsh Construction and Kokosing Construction. The Ohio Department of Transportation described the project as a $4.4 billion-plus undertaking. The department said after the death that it was saddened by the loss of a Walsh-Kokosing crew member and would continue to stay informed with the contractor and investigative agencies. Walsh-Kokosing did not respond to Cincinnati Enquirer phone calls and emails seeking comment for the October 26 update.
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project is one of the largest transportation projects in the region, spanning an eight-mile section of Interstates 71 and 75 in Ohio and Kentucky. Plans call for a new companion bridge across the Ohio River to carry interstate traffic, while the existing Brent Spence Bridge will serve local traffic between Cincinnati and Covington. Work in the corridor has put crews, lifts and heavy equipment alongside one of the busiest river crossings in Ohio.
For drivers and residents, investigators have not announced a cause, a specific equipment failure or any safety violation in connection with the October 17 death, and readers should not assume one from the fact that an investigation is underway. Federal workplace investigations after a fatal incident are a standard part of determining what happened on a job site, what equipment was involved and whether conditions at the time played a role.
What happens next will come from OSHA and the other investigating agencies, and from any findings they release. Until those findings are public, the confirmed facts remain narrow: a Walsh-Kokosing crew member died October 17 after the lift he was operating shifted and fell near Third Street and Pete Rose Way, and the investigation was still active on October 26.
Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA