March 17th, 2016 L.A. (ktla.com) – 36-year-old Joseph Sabbitino was on the second day of his job when he fell from the 53rd floor of the Wilshire G
March 17th, 2016
L.A. (ktla.com) – 36-year-old Joseph Sabbitino was on the second day of his job when he fell from the 53rd floor of the Wilshire Grand Center. Sabbitino was pronounced dead after landing on the back of a car traveling on Wilshire Boulevard. The driver was taken to the hospital but reported in stable condition.
Turner Construction Co. stated there was no reason for Sabbitino to be above the 3rd floor of the building. Turner confirmed the incident was not work related after an initial onsite investigation. Cal OSHA confirmed that there were no violations of fall-protection violated. A spokeswoman for the company stated that Sabbitino was not performing any function related to his job at the time of the incident.
Coroner, Assistant Chief Ed Winter, reported the death as a possible suicide, even though no note was found.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is conducting an accident investigation to determine if CAL/OSHA’s workplace safety and health regulations were being followed.
The skyscraper has been under construction for about three years. Approximately 1,000 workers are employed on the project daily. The Wilshire Grand Center will be the tallest structure on the West Coast at its anticipated completion in 2017. The project was halted Thursday and Friday after the incident out of respect for the deceased.
Source: KTLA Melissa Palmer