Police reports revealed the name of the electrician who died Monday when he was shocked and fell from an 8-foot ladder in UT’s Cass Building.
Officials were unclear whether Jeffery Blake Hughes, 29, died from the shock, the fall or some combination.
Hughes and his wife lived in Lutz, north of Tampa, but records show he was born in New Jersey.
THE ACCIDENT
Hughes was employed by Delgado Electric, located in Tampa, and he was working on overhead wiring on the Cass building’s second floor when he was killed. He previously worked for AA Electric, records showed.
When Tampa Fire Rescue was called at 2:13 p.m. Monday, Hughes was not breathing. Paramedics arrived at the Cass building within four and a half minutes.
Rescuers had to climb a ladder to get to Hughes and then called for back-up in order to carefully get the unconscious man down from the second floor and across the sandy site to a waiting ambulance, officials said.
Hughes died on the scene, but paramedics continued to try to revive him as he was transported to Tampa General Hospital at 2:54 p.m.
Though the death was ruled an accident, Tampa Police Department’s Crime Scene Unit arrived on scene within an hour of the incident, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was contacted to investigate.
No OSHA report was available as of this deadline.
STUDENTS REACT
Many of the students working in the Cass computer labs at the time of the accident had no clue anything had happened upstairs.
Shaina Fainglas, a student working in the one of the Cass labs, had to be told by another student what had happened.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I just stared blankly for about two minutes trying to register what had just happened.”
Other students read about the accident from The Minaret or from a global e-mail from President Ronald L. Vaughn, who wrote, “Our deepest sympathy and condolences go out to the individual’s family, friends and co-workers.”
Junior Kate Gumaer and other students shared the sentiment.
“I feel sorry for his family,” she said. “It’s a hard thing to go through, especially around [the holidays].”
Senior Anne Reyes agreed.
“I really feel bad for the family. It’s so tragic.”
CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS COMMON
Accidents like this are all too familiar in construction, the leading industry in the number of workplace fatalities. In terms of fatality rates, the occupation follows only mining, agriculture, forestry and fishing/hunting.
While it’s unclear whether Hughes died from the fall or the shock, both are common in construction.
Nationally from 2001 to 2005, an average of 265 workers died per year after being shocked, and an average of 125 workers died after a fall from a ladder, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In general, 809 workers fell to their deaths in 2006, 27 percent from a ladder or scaffolding.
Universities obviously aren’t immune. In 2006, an electrician at Kansas State University died when he fell down an elevator shaft.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,