Dive Brief:
-
A Mercer Island, WA, dentist died in a freak construction accident over the weekend when a wall of his family’s future home fell on him.
-
Framers who were working on the house told police the wall slipped as they were putting it up. The construction crew got out of the way in time, but homeowner Jack Chen did not. The framers said they did not know Chen was at the job site.
-
“He was … probably interested in the progress and stopped by to take some pictures,” Commander Leslie Burns of the Mercer Island Police Department, told KIRO-TV.
Dive Insight:
The police are not conducting a criminal investigation, calling Chen’s death an accident. And because Chen was not an employee of the framing company, the state Department of Labor & Industries will not investigate either, according to the news report.
Still, an unrelated builder who talked to reporters reminded contractors to educate homeowners about jobsite safety and to escort them away when they are on a property under construction.