Omaha Man Pulled Off Wall At Sanford Job Site (his safety line may be to blame for his injuries)

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=104085

By Ben Dunsmoor
Published: August 23, 2010, 5:44 PM

SIOUX FALLS, SD - An Omaha man working on Sanford's new heart hospital has life-threatening injuries after steel beams collapsed at the job site, and his safety line may be to blame for his injuries.

Construction on the Sanford Heart Hospital started about a year ago. Henry Carlson is the general contractor but Moen Steel Erection out of Omaha is doing the steel work. One of their employees, 31-year-old Jason Bauer of Omaha, is in critical condition because a steel beam pulled him to the ground.

The future Sanford Health Heart Hospital stands as a five-story steel structure right now, but work on the project came to a standstill Monday after one the worker was severely injured.

"When we arrived on scene, fire and ambulance were already there doing their job. They had an individual who had fallen from a wall," Sioux Falls Police Sergeant Dave McIntire said.

Bauer was tied to a beam in a lower level of the building as a safety precaution, but the line that was supposed to help save him is what caused problems.

FULL story and video at link.

...I have to note that safety lines are only as safe as their attachments, but I'd sure hate to be without one. In a work situation like that, where attachments evolve as the building changes (or comes apart!), I suppose you can only do your best to make informed safety choices, but if the wall comes down with you attached, you're going down too. There's no stopping gravity.

I hope he recovers from his injuries!