Man falls 13 floors to his death from overturned excavator on demolition site
A worker fell to his death on a demolition site in Kaohsiung City after the excavator he was operating on the 14th floor, overturned, and fell to the 13th floor, where it remained suspended upside down.
The 30-year-old operator, named Hsu fell out of the excavator’s cab, plummeting 13 floors to the ground.
An ambulance was dispatched to the site, but paramedics found that Hsu was obviously dead, and did not send him to hospital.
The Kaohsiung City Labor Bureau ordered work be immediately suspended on the site while a safety inspection is carried out. Labor inspectors found that the incident involved violations of Articles 27 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, making the demolition contractors liable to fines of NT$150,000.
Article 27 states: “When business entities, contractors and subcontractors individually hire laborers to work together, the original business entities shall institute the following necessary measures to prevent occupational accidents:
1. Establish a consultative organization, and appoint a person responsible for supervision and coordination of the workplace;
2. Regulate and integrate work;
3. Conduct inspections of the workplaces;
4. Direct and assist in safety and health education related to the contracted work;
5. Other measures necessary to prevent occupational accidents.
If the business entities contract two or more contractors for joint operation, but the business entities themselves do not participate in such work, one of the contractors shall be designated to assume the business entities’ responsibilities set forth in the preceding paragraph.”
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