Construction worker falls at Cherry site
By Gary Popp
Published in News on December 20, 2011 1:46 PM
A construction worker was seriously injured Monday afternoon after falling about 30 feet while working at the site of the new Cherry Hospital on West Ash Street.
Firefighters with the Goldsboro Fire Department responded to assist Wayne County Emergency Medical Services when the accident was reported about 3 p.m.
Elsie Agosto-Perez was first taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital, then air-lifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital.
Carlos Torres, the construction project manager at the site of the new state psychiatric hospital, said the fall was the result of a high-rise "basket" tipping over on its side. He estimated the fall at closer to 14 to 18 feet.
The equipment involved is a piece of machinery that includes a mobile base unit, a boom and a basket.
Torres said Agosto-Perez, a steel erector subcontractor, was the only worker in the basket at the time of the accident.
It was unclear what caused the machine to fall on its side, but the incident is being investigated by safety engineers, Torres said.
"First and foremost we are looking into the machine to see what happened," he said, adding that this is the most serious accident and injury that has occurred at the construction site.
Agosto-Perez's condition was unavailable as of press time, but Torres confirmed that he was airlifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital and was undergoing a second surgery this morning.