SCAFFOLDING ACCIDENT IN AUSTIN KILLS CONSTRUCTION WORKER

One construction worker died in a scaffolding accident in Austin, TX at the end of January.  KVUE ABC News in Austin identifies the victim as Elvis Mendez.Mendez was a 29-year-old construction worker from Dallas, who was in Austin working at a construction site.  Mendez left behind a wife and two children in Dallas.The scaffolding accident occurred on Thursday afternoon, January 27 at the Retreat at North Bluff apartment complex in south Austin.  Mendez and another worker were working on caulk for a brick staircase when they fell off the scaffolding.  The other worker received treatment for injuries at an area hospital, and paramedics pronounced Mendez as dead on the scene.Investigators from OSHA (Occupational Health & Safety Administration) arrived at the construction site on the following Friday morning.  They are attempting to determine if the scaffolding gave way or if the men simply fell off.  OSHA has six months from the time of the construction accident to complete their investigation, and cannot release any details before it is completed.The Workers Defense Project—a non-profit organization—is also conducting an investigation of the construction accident.“Nobody likes to see someone passed away, and he was a young gentleman too,” said one witness.  “Nobody likes to see that.”

TRUCK DRIVER KILLED IN 18 WHEELER ACCIDENT IN TEXAS

A commercial 18 wheeler accident in Texas killed driver Alejandro Raya on March 28 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to The Columbian. Raya was driving on Interstate 30 when a truck traveling in the wrong direction on westbound I-30 near Bech St. struck his vehicle. Raya leaves behind a wife and three children.Authorities arrested the other truck's driver, Louis Nieves, 23, and charged him with intoxication manslaughter for his involvement in the commercial truck accident. A fire ensued after the collision, and Raya was unable to escape the cab before the tanker exploded with him still inside.Police had received several phone calls from frantic drivers shortly before the 18-wheeler accident occurred around 2:30 am. Haz-Mat teams responded to contain the fuel that spilled out, and the Texas Department of Transportation closed I-30 for most of the day. The road will require extensive repairs.Nieves claims he does not recall the accident itself.“Well, I’m really sorry,” Nieves told reporters in Dallas. “I know I committed an accident, a real bad accident…I feel sorry for that person that lost that person.”Nieves told the Dallas Morning News that he was sorry and it was “a bad decision that I made.”

ASTROS ROOKIE ARRESTED ON DUI CHARGES

Authorities arrested Delino DeShields Jr., Houston Astros minor-league baseball player, last month in Athens, GA on suspicion of drunk driving, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. Police booked 18-year-old DeShields at Clark County Jail at 1:06 am on January 16.DeShields told Athens police he was leaving a gathering at a Kappa Alpha house and “admitted to having a sip of beer earlier in the evening,” according to The Houston Chronicle.  DeShields registered a .076 BAC; the legal limit in Georgia for individuals under 21 is .002. A blood test at the Clark County Jail recorded a .094, according to The Houston Chronicle.  Police also found four open bottles of liquor in DeShields’ 2010 Cadillac Escalade.  DeShields posted his $2500 bond and was released early the next morning.DeShields faces charges of drunk driving, underage possession of alcohol driving the wrong way down a one way, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.  All three charges are misdemeanors.“Our position is it’s a private police matter, and we don’t have any comment on it,” said Astros General Manager Ed Wade.DeShields offered an apology to the public on his Facebook page.  “I take the responsibility of being a role model seriously and apologize to my fans, my community and the Astros organization, who continue to support my family and I during this unfortunate incident,” DeShields wrote. “I look forward to putting this incident behind me and sincerely appreciate the respect of privacy during this personal matter.”DeShields, who is 18 years old, was the Astros’ top pick and the eighth overall draft pick in 2010 and is the son of long-time major leaguer Delino DeShields.According to CenturyCouncil.org, there were 1,235 alcohol-related auto fatalities in Texas in 2009.  185 of those fatalities involved an impaired driver who was under the age of 21.

HAZMAT TEAM RESPONDS TO 18-WHEELER ACCIDENT

An 18-wheeler ran off the road and capsized early Monday morning, January 24. The truck accident occurred on Texas 105, four miles west of Sour Lake, according to The Beaumont Enterprise.The truck ran off the road at approximately 5:45 am and flipped over after running into a ditch. Witnesses said it appeared that the driver fell asleep while driving.The driver, Michael Brown, 49, of Lufkin, TX received treatment for minor injuries at nearby Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital. HazMat teams responded to clean up diesel fuel that leaked out after the truck accident. Trooper Stephanie Davis with the Department of Public Safety said that Texas 105 closed down in both directions while HazMat cleaned up the fuel. Adverse weather conditions made the cleanup more difficult. In a news release, Marc Shepherd with the Texas Department of Transportation announced that the highway had reopened.

CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT SAFETY COURSES

Texas Mutual Insurance Company and Midland College have collaborated to offer free workplace safety classes to Texas professionals. For the sixth year, Texas Mutual Insurance Company has offered Midland College a $100,000 grant for its Risk Management Institute to help prevent construction accidents.Since the Risk Management Institute opened in 2006, almost 2,000 people have taken advantage of the 75 different free courses that the institute has offered. Barry Horseman, director of Midland College Workforce Training, believes that it helps to curb workplace injuries at construction and excavation sites in Texas.  The Risk Management Institute tries to focus the courses around specific subjects—particularly in the gas and oil industry, where professionals in that area compose approximately 70 percent of Midland’s students.Work-related deaths have been on the decline recently.  There were 4,340 reported workplace deaths on 2009, down from 5,840 in 2006, according to mywesttexas.com.  Horseman concedes that this is likely due to unemployment and a lull in construction projects, and he believes that there will be an increase when the jobs pick back up.  “Historically, the first 90 days of employment are when most accidents occur,” Horseman said.  Approximately 12 percent of work place deaths in 2009 were construction worker deaths.Among the courses that the institute will offer this year are first aid, drug and alcohol awareness, lock out/tag out standards, occupational health, safety administration, driver safety, fall protection and ladder safety.According to Horseman, near-misses are much more common.  He believes that the courses Midland College is offering will help to raise awareness of construction safety and can help to prevent many of the construction accidents.