News

OSHA investigation underway following construction worker's death

BOSTON — An OSHA investigation is underway after a construction worker fell and died on a job site in East Boston last week.

The victim, from Worcester, was working on the framing of a building on Paris Street May 7, where a new 32-unit building called Paris village is going up. A spokesperson for his union says he was up on one of the top levels of the building when he fell four stories.

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters has identified the victim as 48-year-old Jose Rodriguez of Worcester.

Video from Sky25 showed a harness behind crime scene tape at the construction site.

Rodriguez was working for a company out of Lunenburg called Northeast Framing. It has not responded to Boston 25 News’s request for comment. OSHA said it is currently inspecting sub-contractors Northeast Framing Inc., which employed the deceased, and Turnkey Lumber Inc., and general contractor Delphi Construction.

Jodi Sugerman-Brozan works for the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. She says Rodriguez’s union, Local Union 732, is now working to support his family.

"Unions take health and safety very seriously, so it’s very hard when they lose someone. he was a father of four. they're working to support them,” she said.

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters says Rodriguez was a newer member and posted a tribute to him on its website, that reads in part, “The loss of Brother Rodriguez is a tragic reminder of the need for safety training, the proper use of safety equipment and making safety a priority while working. When a carpenter leaves their home and family in the morning, we all need to work together as an industry to ensure that they return safely at the end of the day.”

OSHA is currently looking into what went wrong, but it could be several months before it releases the findings of its investigation.