RSSConstruction Worker Dies in Orange City After Being Trapped Beneath Paver
On Tuesday, May 1st, a 72-year-old man was operating a paving machine at a construction site when something happened to cause him to fall from the vehicle. According to reports from police within Volusia County, the location of the incident is the future home of a medical complex that will stand along Harley Strickland Boulevard and service people in Volusia County and the surrounding area.
The 72-year-old, a Deltona resident, was working for Pavemax Asphalt Services as part of a group of contractors constructing the medical center. The incident in question took place after the man had finished using the paving machine and was in the process of transferring the vehicle from one area of the parking lot to another.
No one is quite sure as to why the man fell from the paving machine, and an investigation is currently underway into the specific cause of the incident. We do know that when the man fell he either fell in the direct path of the paver or jerked the wheel enough so that the paver changed course to include the area where the man fell. It is not clear if the fall rendered the man unconscious, or if he was able to try and escape the paver, but either way the machine overtook him and the man was then crushed and trapped beneath it.
Several of the other contractors working in the area attempted to use a Bobcat to remove the paver from off of the man, but the reports from the Orange City Fire Rescue indicated that the paver was too heavy for the Bobcat. Ultimately, a massive wrecking machine was used to lift the paver from the man, who was, by this time, deceased.
Emergency medical teams with the Orange County were on hand to assist in the operation, and they declared the Deltona man dead at the scene of the incident.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been called in to the scene to begin an official death investigation. Their work will attempt to uncover whether or not any negligence occurred on the part of Pavemax Asphalt Services or if there were any extenuating circumstances that should have been taken into account before the now deceased construction employee was permitted to operate the machinery.
James O. Cunningham
Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.